A Home for Tontu
by Great Raven Parade
Summary: In the aftermath of the Black Hound incident, Hilda tries to find her new friend a place to stay. But the citizens of Trolberg seem unwilling to trust their former house spirits... Or Hilda's word about what really happened. Takes place between the main action of The Black Hound and the epilogue.
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note: This fic is available both here and on AO3! Chapters 1-4 were originally posted to AO3.**

**Chapter Summary: Johanna tries to deal with the consequences of the car crash. Hilda tries to bring her new friend home for good. The Safety Patrol tries to figure out what happened to the Trolberg Beast.**

* * *

Hilda and Tontu sat with their backs against the Trolberg wall, wrapped up in the musty, old quilt Johanna always kept in the trunk in case of an emergency.

"Let me get this straight. A nisse jumped into the back seat of your car and began calling for the beast. The beast chased you all the way out here, destroyed your car, and then vanished into thin air," The Safety Patrol officer with the eye patch read back from her notepad.

"It-Uh, we crashed, actually. It's all… A little bit of a blur, really," Johanna responded. She laughed nervously.

One of the men suddenly turned to scrutinize the two small figures behind them, "This nisse?" He asked, pointing at Tontu. The nisse made a small noise and pulled the blanket more tightly around his head, leaving only his nose poking out.

Johanna put her hands up, "No- no! It was… A different one," she paused, realizing how much like a lie that sounded, "The other nisse had… A lot less hair. It took the dog- The beast away with it into this sort of…" Words failed her, so she tried to illustrate the place with her hands. No, no that wasn't quite doing it, either.

Tontu said something indecipherable his voice even more muffled than usual under the blanket.

The big man with the red beard moved closer, "What did it say?"

"Nowhere Space," Hilda said more loudly. She nudged Tontu reassuringly, though she decidedly didn't like the Safety Patrol officers much either. "He says they could be anywhere now. Probably very, _very _far away."

"And why should we listen to a nisse that's been kicked out of its home?" The officer with the bushy, brown mustache asked.

Hilda glanced at the lump in the blanket that was Tontu, and then at her mum, whose expression was silently pleading with Hilda not to say the wrong thing.

"He- He lives in my house, actually," Hilda lied. No, not really a lie… It could be true, right? If they just fudged the timing a bit… "He saw the Barghest and came out to protect us." That one wasn't a full lie, either. Suddenly, Hilda had a plan. She threw her arms around the lump in the blanket and batted her eyes innocently up at the officers. "I don't know how mum and I will ever begin to thank him…" She tried, laying on as much charm as she could.

The lump began to grunt and squirm in protest. "Shh! Just go with it!" Hilda hissed. She was going to need complete cooperation if she was going to play both games at once here.

Behind the officers, Johanna was shaking her head furiously. She knew where this was going. It always started with this same exact pose. Hilda would hug the creature and press it to her cheek and bat her eyes and say, 'Oh but we just have to keep him!'. There wasn't time for this right now! And Hilda knew it, too. 'Hilda, no. Hilda. N. O.' Johanna mouthed.

Johanna had just enough time to stow her glare before the focus was on her again. "Right… Yes, he did! We sure are grateful, and we'll all have to have a nice long _talk_ about it all once we get the rest of this mess sorted out," She said, forcing a smile.

The officer taking notes narrowed her one eye, but if she found anything odd about Hilda and Johanna's behavior, she didn't mention it. "Right... Well, we'll be the judges of 'anywhere'," She dismissed, scribbling down one last thing and tucking the notepad back into her pocket.

The man with the bushy mustache nodded in agreement. "Take your kid and your nisse and get back inside the wall. Gate's closing soon," He ordered. He picked his rifle back up and motioned to the other two officers. They moved away and began discussing how quickly they could do a sweep of the area before nightfall.

Johanna rushed over to Hilda and pulled her to her feet. Wordlessly, she led her back towards the gate. Hilda had just enough time to grab ahold of Tontu, dragging him along as he disentangled himself from the quilt.

* * *

"Mum… Stop. You're going too fast," Hilda pleaded after several minutes of tense, silent walking. They were well inside the wall now, heading back up the road towards town.

Her mother didn't reply, so she started again, "Mum, Tontu is really short and he's carrying that whole, big blanket. He's having trouble keeping up."

Johanna stopped and whirled around, "Hilda, what were you thinking?!"

Hilda frowned and looked over her shoulder at Tontu. He was wheezing. What was a brisk walking speed for Hilda and Johanna was a run for him. He was clearly more adept at winding through the tight, irregular corners of Nowhere Space than travelling long distances outside of it.

Hilda looked slowly back up at her mum, "About… Telling Tontu he could stay with us?"

"About any of this!" Johanna exploded. She threw her hands up, "About talking to nisse when I told you not to, about disappearing from the Badge ceremony like that- About lying to me over whether or not you were even earning badges in the first place instead of going off and doing who-knows-what every afternoon!" She was yelling, but tears were welling up in her eyes. Her anger suddenly evaporated, and the tears began flowing freely. Johanna knelt down and hugged Hilda tightly, "I was so worried about you when you disappeared from the Badge Ceremony. I didn't know if you were hurt or- or dead… My God, Hilda. We could have both died in that car crash!"

Hilda patted her mum awkwardly, understanding but not fully grasping the implications. It was a hard thing for such a young and fearless child to do. She instead focused in on the thing she had been worried about for days now. "I- I'm sorry about the badges. I know you wanted me to earn more badges than you did, but… There just aren't any for the kinds of things I'm good at."

"Hilda, sweetie, I don't care about badges. I care about you."

Hilda suddenly felt a bit silly. It was such an obvious statement, and yet she had been so worked up over it over the past few days. Of course her mother loved her more than she loved Sparrow Scout badges. "But mum, you know not to be worried about me. I'm an adventurer, remember? And Jellybean didn't really want to hurt anyone…" She trailed off. The Barghest had 'sort of' eaten three people and pursued Hilda and her friends multiple times. It was probably best to not to mention any of that to her mother right now... Or ever.

Johanna sighed, "You're the bravest and kindest little girl I know. You just want to help everyone. But you're so, so reckless… You get into these situations and you don't even stop to think what could happen to you. I don't know what I would do if I ever lost you."

Hilda frowned again, considering that for a long moment. She pressed herself into her mother's shoulder, staring up the road at the lights of Trolberg. They were flickering on one by one as night fell.

Behind Hilda and Johanna, Tontu shuffled awkwardly.

Hilda pulled away to look at her mum, a small smile creeping back on to her face "But, luckily Tontu was there. And the other nisse I made friends with. The one that lives in our apartment. They both saved us, really."

Johanna sighed. Not this again. She took a moment to wipe her eyes regain her composure. Hilda waited expectantly. They both already knew what she wanted. "Hilda, they were the ones that got you into this mess in the first place. I know you can make friends with almost anything, but I'd really rather you not talk to nisse you find out on the streets. They lie and steal... And I don't know _what_ they were doing with a Barghest of all things."

"Hey! Tontu is my friend-" Hilda protested. She took a step away from Johanna and towards Tontu, "And he was only on the streets because Jellybean accidentally framed him!"

"No… Your Mom's right, Hilda," Tontu agreed, "You really should stay away from nisse. I'm nice, but most others aren't." He had just finished folding the quilt neatly, for lack of something less awkward to do in this situation. He draped it over his arms and hugged it to his body shivering, "That one in your house… She was crazy. Bad news if I ever met it. Plus, we don't even know if anyone but me was really framed. They could just be lying to try and seem innocent."

Johanna stood and crossed her arms skeptically, "And how do we know you're not just lying to seem innocent?"

"Well- _I_ would never!" Tontu huffed.

Johanna rolled her eyes, "Of course you'd say that. They all say that. Come on Hilda, let's go." She reached down and grabbed Hilda's hand again, "We have a fair distance to walk before we'll get to a bus stop. We need to get there before the last bus runs, or we'll be stuck walking all the way home." She turned, only sparing the quickest glance over her shoulder, "Thank you for keeping us from crashing, Tontu. Goodbye."

"Mum!" Hilda cried. She wrenched her hand away and darted behind Tontu, grabbing him by the shoulders. Tontu startled at the sudden motion.

"I'm not leaving this spot unless we take Tontu home. He helped save us! Even if you don't like him, you still have to agree that's worth something! At least give him a few nights at our house until he can move back into his own!"

"Hilda, they don't want me at my old house… I was banished, remember?" Tontu said quietly.

"Just a few nights," Hilda pleaded, "Now that the Black Hound is gone, we can clear up the misunderstanding. Everyone will see that houses aren't being messed up anymore since it left, and they'll have to take their nisse back!"

Johanna pinched the bridge of her nose. That logic seemed flawed, but once Hilda set her mind to something like this, she could be hard to convince otherwise. She wasn't going to make this easy.

On cue, Hilda crouched down, putting her chin on Tontu's shoulder and pressing her cheek into his fluffy hair. She batted her eyes again and Johanna felt herself begin to cave. "Fine. Just a few nights. A week maximum. If his old family doesn't want him back by then, he has to find somewhere else to stay."

"Yes!" Hilda cheered. She grabbed Tontu lifted him up, swinging him around in a circle.

"No-no! Put me down! Put me down!" Tontu protested. The quilt slipped from his arms and fell into the dirt.

Johanna crossed her arms and turned away to hide the small smile that was sneaking its way onto her face. The last thing she wanted to do right now was encourage Hilda... But picking Tontu up like that had been kind of funny.

Still, now she'd have to add keeping a close eye on Hilda and Tontu to her growing list of things to do in the coming week. Things suddenly going 'missing' would be the least of their worries. Who knows what kinds of trouble a nisse could drag her already mischief-inclined daughter into? If tonight was any indication, then quite a lot. She'd have a talk with Hilda later about getting him back to his old home as soon as possible. No trying to drag her feet about it.

Johanna felt a tug at the hem of her coat and looked down to see the aforementioned nisse. He lifted the re-folded blanket up to her, "Uh… Did you want your quilt back?"


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Summary: Yellow duck, yellow house. Hilda helps Tontu confront the woman who banished him. Ducky confronts an afternoon without treats.**

* * *

"Do you really think they'll want me back?" Tontu asked. He fidgeted and looked out over the small pond in front of his old home. The yellow duck was sitting on the far bank staring at them. It swung its head from side to side, regarding the visitors with each eye in turn. Tontu gave it a small wave.

"I'm sure they will," Hilda replied from beside him, "You didn't do anything wrong, after all. We just have to explain what really happened." She grabbed his hand and pulled him along the path to the front door.

Tontu tried to ignore the knots in his stomach. Thanks to Hilda and Johanna's generosity he had been able to get a good night's rest and clean himself up in the morning. His orange sweater was still a little worse for the wear, but he looked more presentable than he had for several days now. If this all went well, things could go back to the way they were supposed to be. Just him, Deborah, and Ducky, spending quiet afternoons and cozy nights together in their big, yellow house. And maybe Hilda could visit from time to time, too. When they were up for the excitement, of course.

On the other hand, if things didn't work out quite as nicely as Hilda kept trying to convince him they would….

Hilda looked back, "I just wish you could have stayed with us a little longer," She said, interrupting the troublesome thought.

Tontu sighed, "It's probably for the best, I don't want to overstay my welcome." He flicked his tail and added, "Plus, being in your old nisse's territory makes me kind of nervous. If she comes back and finds me there, I'm toast."

Hilda tilted her head. She hadn't considered that possibility yet. "Well, Twig and I wouldn't let her hurt you if she did come back," She assured him, "You have the toughest deerfox and the bravest adventurer in all of Trolberg on your side, after all!"

Tontu hummed a doubtful tone, "Yeah, and she's got a pet Barghest that can use Nowhere Space… I'm still not sure I like those odds."

Hilda rolled her eyes and let go of Tontu's hand. "You worry too much. Just like Alfur and Mum," She teased.

She turned to hide the frown that followed. She'd miss him... In fact, she was still bitter over Mum making her send him away. Hilda didn't make friends easily, and it made her want to hold on as tightly as she could to the few she did find. But... As Tontu's friend, getting him back into his old home was the least she could do at this point. Even if it meant seeing him a lot less from now on. She bounded up the front steps and took a deep breath to refocus herself. She glanced back and gave Tontu a quick thumbs up and a reassuring smile. Then, she knocked on the door.

"Coming," called a muffled voice from inside. A few moments later, the door swung open revealing the same stout, grey haired woman from before. The inside of the house behind her was clean but cluttered. The shelves and tables in the living room were overfilled, as if she had decided to take every framed picture and slightly meaningful knickknack in the house and display it at once. With the way the Black Hound had kicked everything from Tontu's nest back out into the open, maybe she had.

"Oh-uh, hello again…" She said, looking down at Hilda, "You're the little scout that came by to ask about the nisse yesterday, yeah?" If she had been confused last time, this time she was doubly so. "Aren't you all supposed to wear uniforms when you go door to door?"

Hilda put on her best smile, "I'm not here as a scout today, ma'am. It's about your nisse again, actually."

The woman put one hand on the doorframe and the other on her hip, "Off causing trouble somewhere else, is he? I thought I'd seen the last-"

Hilda cleared her throat and stepped aside, revealing Tontu. He rubbed one arm awkwardly and looked away, not meeting the woman's gaze. His tail dragged on the ground. "Hi, Deborah…" Was all he said.

Deborah narrowed her eyes, "Oh, I see. I was wondering what all the interest in him was about." She stepped away from the doorframe and crossed her arms, addressing Tontu now, "You've got a lot of nerve coming back here after what you did. Took me days to clean it all up!"

"I- It wasn't my fault, I swear-" Tontu cried.

"Oh, like you didn't try that one already!" Deborah scoffed. She grabbed the edge of the door with the intent to slam it, "At least come up with something original next time, yeah?"

"Wait!" Hilda jumped up and jammed her foot into the door, "Please, just hear us out. This is all just one big misunderstanding."

Deborah shot another skeptical look at Tontu. But her expression softened when she looked back to Hilda. "Fine, then. I'll have a listen. Just make it fast, I haven't got all day."

Tontu knew that was a lie. Deborah was retired and her kids were grown. In all likelihood, she did have all day. And tomorrow, and the next day as well. He had always known Deborah to be a little difficult, but he had never been on the receiving end of it before. It was easy to ignore his housemate's flaws when he only had to watch them from the safety of his nest, he supposed. Not to mention, he had never really observed many humans besides her and the occasional visitor. He had figured humans were just... Like that. Until he had met Hilda and her friends, at least.

Hilda prodded Tontu encouragingly. He took a deep breath... He'd better get started, "Well, I-"

"Actually? I want to hear it from her," Deborah interrupted, pointing to Hilda, "Not you".

Tontu's stomach sank. He had suspected Deborah didn't want to listen to him anyways, but he could see the smirk she was holding back, knowing that she had ruined their routine. He could already tell the way this was going to go from here. Once Deborah made up her mind, it was almost impossible to change. And she'd almost actively take steps to undermine anything that could cause her to change it. He wanted to reach out and stop Hilda right there, but some small part of him still held on to the hope that she could do the impossible here.

Deborah looked to Hilda expectantly. "Well, go on, then."

Hilda blinked, put on the spot by the sudden change of plans. She searched for a way to begin the story, "Well, you've heard of the Black Hound, right? He's all over the news… But he's not really as mean or scary as anyone says! Just very big," She explained, "And he's been getting nisse into trouble all over town. Completely by accident, of course! But he's just so huge that when he comes into a house, he tends to be a little destructive."

Tontu nodded along, with Hilda's explanation. He held his breath, watching Deborah's face closely for a reaction.

"So, you're saying the beast came into my house and made that mess, yeah?" The older woman asked.

"Exactly!" Hilda said; happy her point was getting across. Maybe this wasn't so difficult after all. She began to move her hands as she talked, slipping into the excitement of recapping yesterday's adventure, "He knew how to use the Nowhere Space that nisse use! That's why he was able to jump around town and disappear so quickly. He could even jump directly between houses! Apparently, a lot of nisse nests are connected, if you know the right entrances and exits to use. But luckily, we found his old owner, who was also a nisse. They ended up-"

"Hilda…" Tontu warned, pulling her out of the moment, "Just stop." When Hilda turned to look at him, he pointed back up at Deborah.

The old woman was shaking her head slowly from side to side. "You really expect me to believe all that?"

Hilda blinked a few times, "Well… Yes. It's true."

Deborah knelt down to look Hilda in the eye, "Dear, I don't know if your parents ever told you this, but nisse are not trustworthy creatures. Especially the ones you find just wandering the streets. If they've been banished, it's usually for a good reason. Now this one…" She pointed to Tontu, who hung his head, "I've known he was a thief for years, but apparently he's a quite the little liar, too. He's got you utterly convinced of this tall tale, hasn't he?"

Hilda's felt a surge of frustration, "N-no, I was there! I saw the Black Hound myself! He chased us through all the nisse nests on this side of town!"

"There is no Trolberg Beast or Black Hound or whatever they're calling it now in the headlines," Deborah explained with a pitying smile, "People have just gotten themselves into a panic over some strange coincidences. And now they're telling scary stories to each other. It's happened before, and it will happen again." She put a gentle hand on Hilda's shoulder, "Now what you really need to be afraid of is dishonest folk latching onto a scare like this for their own gain. First those Safety Patrol goons, and now this fellow… You've got to be careful who you listen to."

"I'm plenty careful!" Hilda protested, breaking away. She looked back at Tontu. He was practically wilting as the argument unfolded around him. She grabbed his arm and shook him, trying to get him to back her up, "We really did see him! He chased us! And then you and the other nisse saved me and mum from crashing our car into the city wall… And we saw what the Nowhere Space outside a house looks like- Tell her, Tontu!"

Tontu sighed and brushed Hilda's hands off of his arm, "I'm sorry, Deborah… I thought if I made up an exciting story, people would like me, and you'd want me to come back." He recited the lie in a monotone voice. It was so obviously fake, and yet-

"That's exactly what I thought!" Deborah huffed, "And you should be apologizing to her, not me," She added, pointing to Hilda, "For filling her head with such nonsense. I mean really! A giant dog teleporting into people's houses!" She laughed at the absurdity of it all.

Hilda felt a lump rising in her throat. The next few minutes blurred together as Deborah went on about how unbelievable their story was. Finally, she quipped about heading home and being careful not to listen to anymore fanciful lies, then closed the door. There was a moment of stunned silence, and then-

"Tontu, what was that?" Hilda yelled, whirling around to face… Nothing. Tontu was already at the bottom of the steps. She bounded down the steps and jumped in front of him. "I thought you wanted to go home! But then you went and lied to her and ruined everything!"

Tontu sighed, "Hilda, you saw her. She was furious! She wasn't going to change her mind about banishing me no matter what we said." He held out a hand in a matter-of-fact gesture, "Sometimes it's easier to just tell people what they want to believe and get it over with. You get into a lot less trouble that way." He pushed past her and kept walking.

His nest looked to be destroyed and thoroughly picked apart in the time he had been gone. Even if he did return, what would be left? He knew he should forget Deborah, too. Maybe she wasn't a very nice woman, anyways. But he had lived with her for years, and it wouldn't be true to say she was all bad. She had a green thumb and she loved Ducky as much as he did, for starters. And she could be kind, when her temper wasn't in the way. This would be easier if she was nothing but stubborn and mean-spirited old woman, but that wasn't the truth.

"Well, you can't just-" Hilda began, but Tontu didn't turn to face her. Instead of leaving Deborah's yard, he headed for the pond. He had one thing left here that he could actually say goodbye to. He made it about halfway around the bank before the yellow duck perked up and slid into the water. It swam towards the nisse, quacking pleasantly.

Tontu sighed and held out his empty hands. "I'm sorry, Ducky… I don't have any snacks today. Not even stale birdseed."

Undeterred, the duck climbed out of the water and wiggled its tail, staring at Tontu expectantly. Tontu reached out and patted Ducky's head. "If this were up to you, you'd let me come back… Just keep the house safe while I'm gone, okay? Don't let anything happen to it." He looked back up at the house, choking on the next few words, "And... Keep Deborah company, if you can."

Hilda frowned and looked away. Tontu shouldn't have to lose his home like this. And now she had gone and made it worse by getting him rejected all over again. But… maybe Deborah didn't deserve Tontu anyways, if that was the way she was going to treat him! She found herself wishing again that her mum would just give up whatever problem she seemed to have with nisse so that Tontu could live with them. Maybe she could convince her before the week was up. It had worked with Twig and Alfur, after all. Then again, Mum had liked both of them from the start. But if she just dug her heels in and made sure to be on her best behavior, then maybe….

Tontu moved away from the duck, which tried to follow. It stopped a few feet from the water and tilted its head. The nisse held out his hands to tell the duck to stay. He turned, sniffing and rubbing his nose on his sleeve.

"Come on… let's go see David and Frida," Hilda told him, "Maybe they'll have some ideas about what we can do next."

* * *

**Author's Note: Deborah and Ducky aren't canon names, but I hope they're fitting for those characters!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter Summary: Frida finds out what really happened to her favorite book. Hilda comes up with a new plan to fix everything. Tontu gets into a fight.**

* * *

"So, there we were, running through Nowhere Space. We jumped through Nisse room after Nisse room, but the Black Hound was still on our trail!"

Hilda was in the middle of a much-needed recap of yesterday's adventure. This time, she was sparing no detail. It was refreshing to finally get to tell the story to people who actually wanted to hear it, after all. She paced back and forth on the sidewalk in front of David's house, acting out certain scenes as she told them. Tontu sat quietly on the bottom step, his head propped in his hands. Hilda had tried prompting him to participate, but he didn't seem to be in the mood. It was hard to blame him.

"We jumped into a new room, but Tontu's hand slipped out of mine and he got ahead of me. I was trying to catch up, but I tripped over some junk and then… There it was. _The Legend of Great King Condon_," Hilda paused for dramatic effect.

Frida sat bolt upright. "So, my book reappearing on my bed last night… That was you?" She asked.

"I told you I'd find it," Hilda bragged. She paused, realizing that maybe hadn't been the best way to say it. She corrected her tone into something more genuine, "I… Never stopped looking for it, really."

Frida frowned and looked down. She didn't think she deserved her book back, and she certainly didn't think she deserved to have a friend like Hilda. Last night she hadn't known where the book had come from. She had put it in her backpack with the intention of telling Hilda and David, but somewhere along the way she had lost the courage.

"Thanks, Hilda," Frida finally said. "I was going to show it to you guys, but I-" She couldn't bring herself to reach for her backpack and pull the book out. If she did, she'd have to admit that _she_ had lost track of it, and that it had been in her house the whole time. From the way Hilda had explained it, Nowhere Space was connected to places like under your bed and in the back of your closet. How embarrassing would it be to admit she had thrown her supposed favorite book somewhere like that and forgotten about it for just a bit too long? That even the start of their fight had been completely her fault?

Hilda and David were staring at Frida, waiting for her to finish. Frida's heart began to beat faster. Should she really tell the truth? Surely it would just make them hate her again. She knew it wouldn't be right to lie to her friends. But… What did that mean if they wouldn't be her friends anymore if she didn't? She had just gotten them back! Even Tontu was staring at her now. She was taking too long.

"I put it on my nightstand, and it disappeared by morning! I-I don't know where it went!" Frida blurted out.

There was a stunned silence.

"What do you mean 'it disappeared by morning'?" Hilda asked. She was trying to smile, but her brow was furrowed.

"It- It was just gone," Frida said, finalizing the lie. Her heart had stopped thumping. In fact, it felt like it had turned to stone in her chest. The heavy feeling was working its way into her throat, threatening to keep her from saying anything else, truth or lie.

"That doesn't make any sense," Hilda was shaking her head, "I just got it back for you! I- I looked so hard for it!"

"Do you think Craggie took it back? Maybe he was still mad about Frida losing it," David offered.

Hilda crossed her arms, "No- Craggie couldn't have known it was there yet! Could he? Did any of the books on ghosts say if they could sense things like that?"

David shrugged. Frida was busy studying her shoelaces.

Tontu sighed and lifted his head, "I don't know anything about ghosts," He began, "But it sounds more like a nisse took it. You found it in her nisse's nest in the first place, didn't you?"

Hilda nodded slowly.

"Do you think her nisse took it the first time?" David asked. Frida looked up, blinking in surprise. So maybe it hadn't been her fault after all? It would have been nice to have figured that out earlier. She was just going to have to ride this out now.

"If it was something she and her ghost friend really cared about, it wouldn't have just fallen in on its own," Tontu shrugged as if the whole scenario was obvious. He put his head back down, "Honestly, I'd call stealing something like that much more banish-worthy than getting blindsided by a giant dog. But then, they're the one in their cozy little nest, and I'm the one getting put back out on the streets in a week, so what do I know?" He grumbled.

"Well then… This is easy! All we have to do is go back into Nowhere Space and get Frida's book back again!" Hilda exclaimed.

Frida grinned nervously, "We don't have to do it _today_…" She began.

"Why not?" Hilda asked, "We've got someone that can get us in and out of Nowhere Space right here!" She gestured to Tontu, "Now is the perfect time!"

"Now wait a minute-" Tontu began.

"Yeah, Just one problem," David interrupted. "How do we keep Frida's nisse from stealing her book again? Or taking other stuff she likes? We don't have to find Tontu and have him help us get Frida's stuff back every week, do we?"

"Well… There's always banishment…" Hilda mused, "And if Tontu went to live with Frida after her bad nisse leaves…" Hilda was already working out a plan in her head. This was perfect!

Frida snuck a glance over at Tontu. She thought he was looking at her as well, but it was hard to tell where he was looking, let alone what he was thinking under all that hair. He seemed nice enough, even if he was a bit of a downer. But hey, if Hilda liked him, he couldn't be too bad. And besides- Maybe he was right. Her nisse probably had stolen her book the first time! Not to mention that they had held on to it all these weeks, even when she had very obviously been suffering. It really was quite an awful thing to do.

Frida crossed her arms. "Let's do it. I want to hear what my nisse has to say for themselves after making me lose all my friends."

"And we can get your favorite book back for good," David added.

Frida didn't look at him. "Y-Yeah. That too."

Hilda clasped her hands, "Right, then. We'll banish Frida's old nisse, and Tontu can go live with her!"

* * *

"Oh… I still don't think this is a good idea…" Tontu muttered. He padded through the foyer of Frida's house, peeking under and behind various pieces of furniture.

"This _has_ to work! Just think- We can solve everyone's problems all at once!" Hilda told him. Frida would never have to worry about losing her things again, Tontu would have somewhere nice to live, and everyone would be able to stay friends. It all fit together so well!

Tontu shook his head but stopped himself from saying anything negative. Hilda was really trying to help him here, and he appreciated it more than he knew how to say. Still, it was hard not to worry when she kept having him walk right into other nisses' territories like he owned the place. Tontu swiped a finger across the floor beneath the couch. It came up dusty: a tell-tale sign of a good entrance to Nowhere Space. He brushed the dust off on his sweater then motioned to David and Frida to come over. The three children and the nisse formed a small huddle.

"Now, remember, a banishment has to happen face-to-face, and it has to be done by a head of the household," Tontu explained quietly, "Otherwise it won't count. Lots of nisse like to abuse the requirements for a proper banishment. Keep a low profile, and you can get away with almost anything! It's why you don't see nisse on the streets all the time."

Frida nodded. She peeked up at the wall clock in the kitchen. "My mum should be home in half an hour," She said, "She's hardly ever late. Do you think that's enough time? We could always wait until tomorrow or next weekend…."

"That should be just enough time to find your nisse and get them out of their nest," Hilda responded, "They'll probably come to us when they see Tontu!"

"Oh, please someone grab this nisse before it attacks me. I don't want a repeat of last time," Tontu whined, thinking back to the fight he and Hilda's old nisse had gotten into.

David did a double-take, "Wait, it might _attack_ us?"

"It will probably only attack Tontu," Hilda explained, waving a hand like that was no big deal, "Nisse are really shy around humans. But no one needs to worry," She gave Tontu a pointed look, "Because this time I'll be ready to stop things before they go too far!" She grabbed one of David's hands and one of Frida's.

"I dunno, Hilda... 'Stopping things before they go too far' isn't really one of your strong suits," David protested.

Frida almost wanted to laugh. Things had already gone much too far today. Though... She did share in a good deal of the blame. "Right... How about we go through this plan _one_ more time," she stalled in a last-ditch effort to fix things, "I feel like there's still a lot you haven't explained here-"

"If we don't go now, we won't have time," Hilda interrupted. She made eye contact with each of her friends as she spoke, stopping on Tontu "If we want to try this, It's now or not at all."

David frowned but nodded in agreement. Frida swallowed hard, but forced a smile, not knowing what else she could say.

Tontu just sighed. "Alright, let's go," He said. He pulled the three humans along for a few steps, then jumped into the small space between the bottom of the couch and the floor.

* * *

They rushed through nothingness for a brief moment. Hilda cheered. Frida and David screamed. Then, almost as suddenly as it had started, it was over. Everyone tumbled onto the soft, spongy floor of the nisse room in Frida's house.

David sat up, blinking. He pressed on the soft floor experimentally and grinned, "Well that hurt a lot less than I thought that it was going to!"

"Speak for yourself," Tontu grunted, "You're sitting on my tail…"

"Sorry," David apologized as the nisse pulled his tail back and began neatening the fluff on its end.

Meanwhile, Hilda and Frida got to their feet and took a moment to look around. All nisse nests looked somewhat similar with their irregularly shaped pink walls and soft, bouncy floors. But each had its own unique sort of charm as well. It was easier to appreciate when you weren't being chased by a Barghest, of course. The Nisse in Frida's house seemed to like packing things into boxes. And then piling more things around those boxes in a way that seemed to defeat the point of having a box in the first place. Things seemed to be sorted in some kind of way, but the system was difficult to parse. It was actually fairly similar to the way Frida now kept her room.

"Are we… Still in my house?" Frida asked.

Hilda nodded, "This is the fun part about being friends with a Nisse. There's a whole room in your house you don't know about, and it's filled with all the things you've lost. Look, there's your Science Fair project!" She pointed to a trifold sitting among a pile of other posters and piles of paperwork. A shiny, first-place ribbon was attached to the top, near the neatly written title of Frida's experiment.

"I was wondering where that went!" Frida gasped. She moved towards it, but Tontu tugged on her sleeve.

He cleared his throat quietly, "We should start looking for your nisse before your mom gets home," He reminded her.

"Right…" Frida agreed. She adjusted her backpack on her shoulder. The book felt like a weight within it. She had decided to stash it somewhere while they were in her nisse's nest. Or pretend to find it while they looked around. She just needed a little time away from her friends. Then no one would have to know she had lied at all.

Everyone fanned out, looking carefully among the piles of junk scattered about the room. Hilda stuck frustratingly close to Frida, making conversation about miscellaneous objects from Frida's past that they found. Did she know? No, she couldn't possibly… Could she?

"Uh, guys?" David called from somewhere across the room.

Hilda and Frida both looked up from their search. Tontu emerged from behind a pile of boxes overflowing with toys that Frida had lost interest in over the years.

"Who are you people? What do you want?" Shouted a high-pitched voice from somewhere beyond David. Frida's nisse.

Frida's stomach churned. She and Hilda ran across the room and crouched behind a large pile of off-season holiday decorations. Tontu was on their heels. Once they were all hidden, they peeked through the branches of a plastic pine tree.

In front of David was a small, red-haired, and rather angry Nisse. They brandished the head of a broom, waving it around by what was left of its badly broken handle. David was backing away slowly.

"How did you even get in here? Get out! Get out!" The nisse cried, beating the broom on the floor in front of it.

"Guys?" David repeated, "A little help?"

"Tontu, can you jump out and get them to chase you this way?" Hilda whispered.

"No way! I-I changed my mind. I'm staying out of sight until this is over," Tontu protested, shrinking back into a pile of tinsel. "They look almost as mean as your nisse!"

Hilda rolled her eyes, but she couldn't argue. She had already gotten Tontu into a fight once. "Alright, then. I'll sneak up behind them. Frida, you back up David and don't let them run past you. Be ready to grab the nisse as soon as we have them cornered." She turned and began crawling the long way around.

Frida nodded. She shouldered her backpack again. Her nisse deserved this. Tontu needed this. She could figure out what to do about the book later. She got up and began her own approach.

"Right behind you, David. Hilda has a plan," Frida warned as she got close.

David glanced back at her, "Should I be worried?"

Frida hummed and waved a hand in a 'so-so' kind of motion.

The red-haired nisse paused and lowered the broom. "Frida, is that you? How did _you_ get in here?"

"Now!" Hilda yelled. She dove at the nisse from behind. They squeaked and dropped the broom, darting forward out of Hilda's tackle. She fell to the ground with a sharp 'oof'. The house spirit ran for freedom, hoping to slip between David and Frida before they could react. David flinched, but Frida moved quickly to block her nisse's escape.

The nisse backpedaled and turned, running back towards Hilda. They jumped onto her back, using her as a springboard to get a head start towards the wall of exits on the opposite side of the room. Hilda felt them snatch something off her head as they passed.

"Hilda, your hat!" Frida cried.

The nisse glanced back at the children and waved the beret tauntingly as they ran. "Come and get it!"

"Don't let them jump through the exits! They could go anywhere!" Hilda yelled, getting to her feet. David and Frida were already running after the tiny nisse, but they were surprisingly fast. There didn't seem to be much hope of catching them before they escaped.

Suddenly, Tontu flew out of one of the openings near the top of the wall. "G-give that back!" He yelled. He slammed into the other nisse and they tumbled across the floor back towards Hilda and her friends.

The two nisse tussled, forming a tangle of bushy hair and lashing tails. Then they rolled to their feet, each one tugging on an opposite end of the beret.

"So, this was all your doing! Don't think I didn't see you scoping out my territory yesterday!" The smaller Nisse growled, giving the hat a yank.

Tontu grunted and pulled the beret back towards himself. The other nisse stumbled forward but found their footing and resumed pulling.

"And you brought that… That monster with you as a distraction! What kind of stunt was that? What kind of monster was that? If anyone had been home, it could have attacked them! You're selfish, you know that? You obviously don't care who you hurt-"

"Well, what do _you_ care?" Tontu asked, "You don't seem to have a problem making your housemates and their friends miserable."

"What do I care?" The red haired Nisse repeated, "What do I care?!" They let go of the beret and Tontu went tumbling backwards. The smaller nisse leapt on top of him, snarling.

Hilda ran towards the fray. She yanked her scarf off, then used it to grab the smaller nisse. The technique was meant for small to medium-sized animals, but it seemed to be just as effective on house spirits. The nisse tangled themself in the fabric and gave up, seething in Hilda's arms. Their nose was pointed towards Tontu.

"I think they're glaring at each other, but I can't tell behind all the hair." David commented as he and Frida ran over.

Tontu looked down to check that Hilda's beret was in one piece. He winced as he moved his left arm, so he pulled the sleeve up slightly to take a look. "Ow, they bit me," he whined quietly.

The tiny nisse squirmed, "I'll bite you again when I get back down there! You- You trespassing, monster-bringing, child endangering-"

Hilda moved her arm to muffle the rest of the insults. "Well, even with the biting, this still went a lot better than the first two times we tried to find you a new home, didn't it?" She asked Tontu. He shrugged and made an 'eh' noise. It could have gone worse.

"Let's get back to the normal part of the house and get this banishing thing over with. My mum will be home any minute," Frida said.

At the mention of 'banishment', the nisse in Hilda's arms began to kick and struggle again. She teetered but was able to catch her balance. The nisse used the distraction to push its head upwards and gasp.

"Is that what you're all trying to do here? You're trying to get me banished? This fellow can't chase me out himself, so he's having you all do it for him, is he?" The nisse jerked their head towards Tontu indignantly.

Frida crossed her arms and looked off to the side. "Maybe," She replied. It was a guilty and obvious 'yes'.

"Frida… Why? I-I don't know what kinds of lies this street nisse has told you, but I haven't done anything wrong!"

Frida's expression hardened. "Oh sure. You haven't done _anything_ wrong. It isn't like you stole _The Legend of Great King Condon_, which you knew was valuable and important to me," She walked towards Hilda and leaned down, putting her face close to her nisse's. "It isn't like you almost ruined my life. It isn't like you saw me struggling and didn't do anything to fix it. It isn't like I _just_ watched you try to steal my friend's favorite hat right off her head!"

"I-I don't know what you're talking about," The nisse stammered, "I only took the beret in hopes you'd all follow me back into your house instead of getting lost in here! Please believe, I'd never do anything to hurt you! And I-" It drooped in Hilda's arms, "I do know that I shouldn't have taken the King book. If I could have done anything to help you these last few weeks, I would have. But I wasn't sure what I could do…."

"Well, let's see," Frida began counting on her fingers, "You could have apologized. You could have helped me clean my room when Craggie stopped coming. You could have stopped me from making friends with the marra and letting them manipulate me…" She threw her hands up, "You could have just returned the book when you saw that I was upset!"

Frida's nisse hung its head. "I- I didn't realize the ghost would stop coming when I borrowed that book. I really didn't. I thought he would find another one he liked! I even tried leaving some of his other old books around your room while I read the one I took, but he never came back."

"You have more?" David interrupted.

The nisse tilted their head back ever so slightly, as if they were rolling their eyes. "Well, of course. I have lots of books that have Craggie's name written in them. He used to live here, after all! Where do you think the King book even came from? I left it out for Frida when she was learning to read!"

Frida blinked, taken completely off-guard. The anger had left her. "You thought that was a good book for a little kid?" she asked, recalling the dense descriptive paragraphs and gory battle scenes.

"Well, it isn't like Craggie had books about learning your shapes and colors!" The nisse shrugged, which was about all they could do in Hilda's arms, "I showed you a few books and you liked the shiny cover…."

"But then… If you wanted me to have it in the first place, why did you take it back?" Frida asked.

"I just- You and Craggie loved the book so much, I wanted to read it again, too. It would feel like we were sharing it. We'd know all the same characters and places…" The nisse looked up wistfully. "I know I made a mistake borrowing the book for so long, Frida. But please understand I didn't do it to hurt you! I- I got scared when I realized what had happened. I didn't return the book because I thought you'd find out it was my fault."

Frida felt the air leave her lungs. As if the nisse's words had reeled back and punched her in the stomach.

"Then why did you take the book the second time?" Hilda asked, "After I returned it?"

The nisse tried to look at her but had to settle for only turning their head partway. "I didn't take the book again," They sounded sincerely puzzled, "I didn't even know it wasn't in my nest anymore."

"Remember, Hilda, nisse are good liars," Tontu cautioned.

The tiny nisse squirmed back around, "Oh, yeah? You'd know all about that, wouldn't you?" they spat, "Did you know that they're also great manipulators?"

"Hey- I'm not manipulating anyone!" Tontu cried.

The red haired nisse tilted its head sarcastically, "That's odd… Then why are humans and monsters ending up in places they're not supposed to be in? And seemingly only in situations that directly benefit you?"

"T-they're not-" Tontu didn't know how to explain that he wasn't doing this on purpose. At least, he didn't think he was. He bristled and glared. The nisse in Hilda's arms seemed happy to join in. They seemed seconds away from fighting again, whether Hilda was in the way or not.

"Stop!" Frida called. The bickering nisse paused, pointing their noses towards her. She had the spotlight now, "No one is lying or manipulating anyone here. Except for me."

The room was absolutely silent as Frida swung her backpack off her shoulder and undid the zipper. She pulled out _The Legend of Great King Condon_ and held it up. The two nisse were reflected in the shiny crown on the cover.

"I thought you said it disappeared this morning," David gasped.

"I did," Frida admitted, getting to her feet. "I was so embarrassed that it had been in my house the whole time. So, I lied about having it and… Well, things got out of hand. I just didn't want you guys to stop being my friends again."

"We weren't going to stop being your friends," Hilda said, "Losing the book wasn't even your fault in the first place!"

Frida let the book fall down to her side, "Look. Losing the book might not have been my fault, but everything I did after that was, and I still feel awful about it." She couldn't meet her friends' eyes, so she hung her head, "I was going through a hard time realizing I wasn't as perfect as everyone expected me to be, but that doesn't mean that anything I did was right. I shouldn't have said the things I said to you guys, and I shouldn't have made friends with the marra. And then, after all of _that_, it wasn't fair of me to try and blame those things on my nisse instead of taking responsibility for them myself." She looked back up, "I've been an awful friend, and I never really did give you guys a proper apology for everything I did. So… I'm sorry."

"Aww, Frida," David breathed. There were tears welling up in his eyes. He went in for a hug, which Frida accepted. "We missed you."

Hilda was smiling. "Thank you for apologizing, Frida," She said. She moved towards the hug but hesitated, shifting Frida's nisse in her arms. She wasn't quite sure if she should let go of them yet.

David giggled, "We can make this work, come on!" He shuffled his and Frida's hug closer to Hilda and threw an arm lightly around her shoulder.

Frida put her free arm around Hilda's other side. "Thank you, guys, for still wanting to be my friends," she choked out. She was crying now, too.

"I'm sorry for everything, too! I never meant to come between you three!" Frida's nisse- who was literally between the three children at the current moment- bawled. Hilda giggled and the three friends held their hug for several moments.

"Uh- I hate to interrupt, but I think your mom is home, Frida," Tontu said. During the second emotional moment that he wasn't a part of in just as many days, he had shuffled over to the wall and peeked through one of the exits.

"Oh- Crud! We can't let her see us coming out of Nowhere Space! My mum doesn't know we go on supernatural adventures like this!" Frida exclaimed, wiping her eyes on her sleeves.

"We're not banishing your nisse anymore, are we?" Hilda asked with some concern, exchanging a look with the house spirit in her arms.

"No, of course not! Uh- Just let them go!" Frida cried.

Hilda obliged, and the tiny nisse tumbled to the ground. They scrambled up and brushed themselves off. "Quick, I'll show you the shortcut your room, Frida. That should leave you all just enough time to act natural before your mum comes looking for you!"

Frida's Nisse took off towards a corner of the room, with the rest of the group behind. "This way! Go, go!" They pointed to a medium-sized hole, through which Frida could see part of her room. The vantage point was low to the floor, and Frida realized it was because they were looking out from under her bed.

Hilda and David crawled through the exit and emerged in Frida's room. They quickly set about posing themselves as if they had just been doing nothing in particular.

Frida turned to her nisse, "Sorry for trying to banish you. But thanks, uh…" She paused, and extended a hand hoping for a name.

"Tontu!" Her nisse replied, reaching up and giving her hand a small shake. "I'll see you around. But go now before you get in trouble! Your mum is walking up the stairs," Frida's Tontu pointed to a smaller hole in the wall, which seemed to be looking out from behind a picture frame hanging on the stair landing. Frida nodded and crawled out from under her bed.

"Well, now things are just going to get confusing," Tontu grumbled, crossing his arms and curling his tail, "I was already using our name."

"You- Get out of here!" Frida's nisse replied, patience vanishing as soon as the humans were out of Nowhere Space. "I'd better not see you again!" They gave Tontu a shove, sending him tumbling out of their nest.

* * *

Right on time, the doorknob turned. The door swung open a few inches and Frida's mom peered in.

"Oh, Hilda! Goodness, I'm so glad you're alright!" Frida's mom exclaimed, opening the door wider, "We were so worried when you disappeared from the badge ceremony! They did a role call after the monster vanished, but you were completely unaccounted for!"

Hilda smiled shyly, "I slipped away from the chaos and had a friend take me home. Sorry for worrying you."

"It's quite alright. Though you or your mum should probably check in with the Raven Leader if you haven't already. I'm sure she's worried for you as well," Frida's mom pointed out.

"We'll do that. Thank you!"

With that out of the way, Frida's mother took a better look around the room. She took in Hilda and David's awkward poses, Frida standing in the middle of the room for seemingly no reason, and finally Tontu sprawled face-down on the carpet. "Well, I am glad to see you with your old friends again, but what is this?" She asked cautiously. "It's not dead… Is it?"

Tontu peeled himself up from the floor to answer the second question. Hilda took a protective step towards him and tackled the first. "He's mine. Or well, he's the nisse that lives in my house, at least. I was introducing him to Frida and David today," She explained.

"Well… Just make sure it goes back home with you. I'd rather we not have a nisse in this house," Frida's mom replied.

Hilda nodded vigorously while Frida and David exchanged a look.

"I guess I'll leave you three to it," Frida's mom announced, though her expression was still puzzled. She shut the door behind her, muttering "Strange girl. But I'd rather it be her than those teenagers." When she thought the kids couldn't hear. Frida, David, and Hilda were much more careful, waiting until they heard the creak of Frida's mom going down the steps before they started talking again.

"I don't suppose Tontu could still live here without my mum knowing. This one, I mean," Frida asked. "Uh- mine told me their name was Tontu, too."

"Yeah, all nisse are named that," Hilda said.

David tilted his head. "That must get confusing."

Tontu held out a hand, "That's what_ I _said!"

"I suppose it's a little better when you consider that you'd typically only ever meet one nisse at a time. They really don't like being around each other at all," Hilda explained, "Which is why that's probably a 'no' on my Tontu sharing a house with yours," She added glumly.

"Oh, I see," Frida said, looking down.

Hilda shrugged and tried to stay positive, "It's okay, Tontu can come back home with me tonight. We can try and think of something else tomorrow."

"Hey, maybe we could take him to my house," David offered, "I haven't met my nisse, but Tontu could tackle it and we could see if it's the one that's been leaving the chip bags in the pantry even when they're empty!"

Tontu flopped back down and rolled onto his back, staring up at the ceiling "Oh, please no. I'd rather not get into a third fight…."

Hilda shook her head, "We have to find someone who's recently gotten rid of their old nisse. That way, no one has to fight over who gets to stay. And preferably, they'll be someone who's nice and likes Tontu," she said. She could think of exactly one family that filled that box, and it was hers.

"Well, you said a lot of people recently got rid of their nisse because of the Black Hound. Surely there will be someone Tontu can live with," Frida reasoned, "We can talk to people around town tomorrow while we hand out fliers for the Jumble Sale."

"That sounds like a plan," Hilda agreed. Now she just had to figure out what she was going to tell her mum tonight.

* * *

**Author's Note: T****he 'banishment rules' are pure headcanon. I wanted to fill some gaps the show and comics left. They might also be important to later parts of this story...**

**Thanks for reading!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter Summary: Hilda brings Tontu back to the apartment after an unsuccessful day. Familiar faces appear in the news. Alfur and Johanna contemplate insurance fraud.**

* * *

Hilda opened the door to the apartment slowly, trying to make as little noise as possible. She let Tontu in, then closed the door with a soft 'click'. She motioned to the nisse to be quiet as she set about slipping her boots off. Socks would be easier to sneak in.

"Thanks for helping me fill out the insurance forms for the car, Alfur" Johanna said. Her back was to the rest of the kitchen as she prepared two cups of tea: one thimble-sized, and one normal.

"Oh, my pleasure! I'm always happy to help. Though I do wish all this paperwork could be on better terms," Alfur replied.

Hilda peered around the corner, trying to locate the tiny elf. Even after living with him for months, he was still incredibly easy to lose track of. The voice had clearly come from the kitchen table, but Hilda couldn't find him among the piles of human-sized paperwork that had been strewn across it. She did see Twig, though. He was curled up under the table, fast asleep. His legs twitched as he chased squirrels through his dreams.

Hilda glanced back up at her mom, who would surely turn around any second now. She and Tontu would just have to go for it, Hilda decided; Run to her room as quickly and quietly as possible and hope no one noticed. Hilda really didn't want to explain that she hadn't gotten Tontu back into his old home today. It would be much easier to sneak him in like she had with pretty much every other creature she had brought home. Her mom could figure out what had happened later (after realizing that Tontu was an excellent guest, of course; Look, you didn't even notice he was here!).

Tontu was tugging on Hilda's sleeve but she waved him off. "Let's go. On the count of three," She whispered, pointing to her bedroom door. Tontu shook his head 'no' and mimed something Hilda didn't quite understand or have the time to figure out. Hilda just shook her head 'yes' and held up her fingers. "One… Two…"

"Hello, Hilda!"

Alfur. He was sitting in the densest part of the insurance forms, his eyes magnified by his tiny reading glasses. He smiled and waved. Twig perked up and Johanna turned around, both alerted by the elf's greeting.

"Hi, Honey! How did things go today?" Johanna asked. The mug and thimble steamed on the tea plate in her hands. They looked invitingly warm, even for a summer night. Hilda could smell the mint from where she was standing.

"I was trying to tell you- If you didn't want to be seen, we could have just gone into Nowhere Space…" Tontu explained exasperatedly, now that silence was no longer a requirement. Hilda just smiled sheepishly and stepped in front of him.

Twig tilted his head and whined. Meanwhile, Johanna's expression fell. "Oh, Hilda… I thought we agreed. You were supposed to send Tontu home today," She said, walking forward and placing the mugs down on the table.

"I tried, Mum! But the lady at his old house didn't want him!" Hilda blurted out. She lowered her voice and looked down at her socks, "She didn't believe us about The Black Hound. She thought Tontu just made it all up so she'd let him back in."

"Well that's… Unfortunate," Johanna responded slowly. She wasn't quite sure what to say. She had a few different ideas, but they weren't likely to lead to a pleasant conversation. The last thing she wanted to do right now was try and argue with Hilda again. It would be best if they could all just have a nice, quiet night to try and mitigate all the stress everyone was under.

"Well, you'd think she'd have to believe in the Black Hound after yesterday," Alfur said, mercifully changing the subject. "The news has been going crazy with all the sightings. Someone even snapped a picture at your Badge Ceremony!"

A small smile worked its way back on to Johanna's face. She couldn't help it; She had been looking forward to this all afternoon. She looked down at Alfur, "Oh, do you want to show her, or should I?"

Alfur grinned back, "Let me get it!" he said. He jumped up and waded to one edge of the insurance forms, where he began rooting around for something. He soon unearthed the fatter edge of a folded newspaper and tugged it from the pile. The paper was a bit too big for the elf to unfold, however. Johanna had to reach over and help him maneuver it onto the right page. When it was done, Alfur scrambled to the side, where he'd be able to watch Hilda's expression as she read. Johanna and Twig looked up expectantly.

It was this afternoon's edition of the Trolberg Daily. The front page showed Jellybean standing imposingly in the scout hall. Beneath him, two children- no- A child and a nisse- stared up fearfully. The big, bold letters of the headline read: 'Sparrow Scouts flee from Trolberg Beast'.

Hilda gasped and ran over, snatching the newspaper up so that she could study the picture more closely. A grin spread across her face. She turned and held the paper out for Tontu, "Look, there we are! We're in the news!"

"Wow… I've never even had my picture taken before…" The nisse marveled. He leaned so close to paper that his nose was almost touching it. "Maybe I do need a _slight_ haircut," He admitted. It was unclear whether he meant that because of the picture, or because of his attempts to see it.

"I am definitely putting this on my wall!" Hilda decided. She looked back up at her mom, "Can we take it to the art store and get it framed?" She asked.

Johanna's smile wavered, "We'll see. I'm a bit busy over the next few days. Also… Showing this around too much might not be the best idea for the time being."

Hilda's smile faded, "Why not?" She asked, "It's really neat…."

"It _is_ neat, now that we know the Black Hound is gone," Johanna explained, "Though I'm afraid it has everyone else in a panic. I've been getting calls from the other scout parents all day asking about you."

Hilda frowned. She was still staring at the paper. As she looked closer, phrases from the paragraph below began to jump out at her. 'Terrifying monster' 'Even our homes are unsafe' 'It could be anywhere'. "Well, if everyone is so scared, we should be telling them that Jellybean is gone now, shouldn't we?" She asked slowly.

Tontu flicked his tail, "You saw what happened at my old house today- If you go around telling people you single handedly figured out how to get a Barghest out of town, a lot of them might just think you're lying… Or crazy." He cautioned.

Johanna hadn't expected to find herself on the same side of something as Tontu. But admittedly she was glad someone could already see the point she was trying to make. "And that's if they don't believe us." She added. She sighed and looked down at the insurance forms, "It's not our job to tell people the Black Hound is gone." She looked back up and tried to force a smile, "I'm sure they'll all… Figure it out for themselves. Eventually."

There was a long silence. Finally, Alfur adjusted his glasses and spoke, "I think I have to agree with Hilda on this one, Mum. People need to know that the Barghest is gone at the very least. Humans and elves alike are prone to doing silly things when they think there's a giant monster terrorizing their town. Also… We still haven't figured out a convincing enough lie to explain to the insurance company why you crashed your car in the woods outside the city wall."

Johanna sighed, she sat down and ran her hands through her hair. "I know," She admitted. "But we need to be careful with how we go about this. We _need_ the insurance to pay for the car and... Aside from that, it just isn't safe to let on that we know too much. Not with those Safety Patrol men out there looking for a monster to fight."

"I don't think we need to worry about those guys," Hilda assured her mother, "They couldn't find Jellybean for months! And they're so busy looking for him now that they probably won't even remember us."

Johanna drew in a sharp breath. "I hope you're right," She said quietly.

Alfur tapped his chin as he studied the newspaper again. This was a conundrum. "I suppose we could tell just enough of the truth to work through this. For now, at least," He compromised, "We only have to tell the insurance that the barghest chased you around the wall, then ran away. They cover creature-related accidents to a point, after all. As long as they don't know you had it chase you on purpose, we should be fine." He turned to Hilda, "And Hilda, you could take this newspaper back to Tontu's old home tomorrow. The lady there will have to believe you with evidence like this! Then Tontu can go home. You don't need to tell her anything beyond what's in the news already."

Hilda frowned and looked over her shoulder. Tontu's expression was as unreadable as always, but the way he had frozen at the mention of going back said enough. "I don't think that's a good idea," Hilda said, "The lady that lived there was really, really mean. I don't think she liked Tontu at all! Even if we can make her believe us… I think he'd be better off with someone else."

Johanna raised an eyebrow, catching on to what Hilda was about to say next, "Hilda, if you're going to say he should stay with us, you already know the answer."

"Mum, please?" Hilda begged, clasping her hands together. She stepped back and laid her head on Tontu's as cutely as she could, "If you could just-"

Johanna stood and put her hands down on the table, "Hilda, I'm not going to argue with you on this anymore. I told you very clearly last night: Tontu can stay for the week, but if he hasn't found a new house by then, that's it. He's not living here."

Sensing the sudden, unpleasant tone shift of the conversation, Alfur excused himself and dove into a pile of papers. Twig tucked his tail between his legs and backed under an empty chair. Tontu, unfortunately, was stuck in the middle in more ways than one. He had no choice but to stay stiffly and awkwardly put.

"Why don't you like him? What did he ever do to you?" Hilda cried, stepping to the side and motioning to the house spirit.

Johanna swept her arm to the kitchen behind her, "Well, he made that awful mess when you first brought him here, for starters! The kitchen was nearly destroyed!"

"And then he saved me from being eaten at the scout hall, and all of us from getting hurt when the car crashed!" Hilda reminded her.

Johanna pressed her fingers to her temples and lowered her voice, "Hilda- I keep trying to tell you. We wouldn't have been in any of those situations in the first place if you had just stayed away from nisse like I told you to. Please just listen to me-"

"Maybe I'll listen when you stop assuming the worst about everything and everyone!" Hilda shouted, "You're acting just like the mean old lady that lives in Tontu's house and wouldn't believe a word I said!"

A tense silence fell over the room. Twig looked between his two owners, while Alfur rustled in his paper pile, shifting things just enough to take a quick peek.

Johanna inhaled. She hadn't said anything yet, but her expression warned that when she did, it wasn't going to be good. Time seemed to slow down as she and Hilda stared at each other.

"Hilda…" Tontu said quietly, breaking the spell. He reached out in a cautionary motion.

Hilda whirled on him. "Tontu, let's go. Into the nisse room where mum can't follow," She decided, "I've had just about enough of this for today."

Johanna's eyes widened. "Hilda, don't you dare," She warned. She started moving towards her daughter but knocked her hip against Twig's chair. The deerfox startled and scrambled from his hiding place, ending up directly underfoot. The pile of insurance papers shifted and scattered to the floor as Johanna tripped and caught herself against the table.

"Oh dear…" Alfur sighed from somewhere within the flurry of forms.

Tontu's instincts were screaming for him to flee from the epicenter of the mess. You could only be banished if you were caught, after all. But instead he hesitated, watching everything unfold.

"Come on, let's go!" Hilda barked, grabbing his hand. That was enough to startle the nisse into the more typical response. He turned and jumped into the nearest entrance to Nowhere Space- Which happened to be the gap between the chest of drawers behind them and the wall.

"Hilda!" Johanna yelled, but her voice became distorted and faded as they bounced down onto the floor of the nisse room.

* * *

"Oh… Why did that seem like the exact wrong thing to do?" Tontu fretted as he sat up. Hilda got to her feet and stormed deeper into the nest, grumbling about her mom.

Tontu watched her go, not quite sure if he should follow. Instead, he looked back up at the wall of exits, then hopped onto a box and peeked out a hole that looked out over the top of the refrigerator. Johanna was over at the cabinet they had jumped behind, pulling drawers open and slamming them shut, trying to find a way to follow. She seemed angry but… In a worried sort of way. She had just watched her daughter disappear into thin air with a little creature that she didn't particularly like or trust, after all.

Tontu grabbed his tail and began pulling at the fluff on the end guiltily. This was all his fault, wasn't it? Hilda and her mom were fighting over him, after all.

Hilda's pet deerfox got up and began rubbing against Johanna's leg comfortingly. The high-pitched voice from the table had seemingly moved with him and was trying to calm Johanna down. Tontu had always sort of wished there was someone to talk Deborah like that, invisible or not. Then again, Deborah was much different from Hilda's mom. She lashed out and pushed people away when she was hurting. It might not have been possible for someone to talk her down. Hilda didn't know how wrong she was in trying to compare the two.

Tontu turned and climbed carefully back down to the floor. His fur fluffed as he moved deeper into the nest. He was still tense here. The way Hilda's old nisse had jumped at him flashed in his mind. And she hadn't really been banished, so… She could come back and do it again any time she liked. And she would surely have it out for him. Not just because he was in her territory, but also, Tontu realized, because he was hurting her family now, too. He had to put a stop this while he still could.

He eventually found Hilda scrunched angrily into the armchair at the center of the room (or what could be considered the center of such an irregular shape, anyways). She looked up as he approached.

"I'm sorry, Tontu. I just can't figure out what Mum's problem is. She's usually not like this…" Hilda said, trailing off at the end. She lowered her shoulders and looked down. "At least, she didn't used to be. I think she's gotten more and more worried about things since we moved here from the Wilderness."

Tontu found himself caught off guard. He had been ready to put his foot down, to tell her it was time for him to leave but… Now he was curious. "You didn't… Always live in the city?" he asked.

The nisse wasn't sure he could fathom something like that. Cities were where all the houses were built, after all. He thought back to the awful night when he had experimented with sleeping in the woods. The way branches tore at your clothes and hair when you walked, and insects crawled under you no matter where you tried to rest… The way larger, scarier creatures howled in the cold, dark distance regardless of whatever plight you found yourself immediately confronting… Not to mention the fact that there was never a clean surface in sight. "But there aren't any houses out there! I-is that why you're so good at camping?" He added, a touch of horror working its way into his voice.

Hilda giggled, "No, we had a house! It was bigger than this one, actually." She rested her chin on her hand and looked out across the nisse room wistfully. "It was nice. But one day a giant destroyed the whole thing by accident. So… We had to move here. That's one thing you, me, and mum all have in common, you know. We know what it feels like to lose a home."

"Is that why you're so determined to help me?" Tontu asked quietly, looking down.

"Yeah, I guess that's part of it. I felt so lost and alone after moving here," Hilda replied. She pulled her knees to her chest, "I really relied on my new friends to help me feel at home again. And even then, it wasn't easy. I can't imagine what it would have felt like to just have… No one. So, when Mum told me you had been kicked out of your home, when I first saw you sitting all alone on that street corner, I decided I had to at least find out if you were okay. Even if she didn't think it was a good idea."

Tontu ran a hand through the fluff on the back of his head. "Well, that makes me feel even worse for the way I treated you the first couple of times we met," He admitted. He was acutely aware of how standoffish he had been at first. In fact, he had thought of Hilda as little more than nosy and annoying. It wasn't lost on him that he had tried to push her away in a way that mimicked the personality of only human he had really known at the time.

Hilda smiled, "You came around eventually. Compared to some of the other creatures I've met, you weren't that bad."

"Well, I hope you didn't try bringing any of them home." Tontu said wryly, flicking his tail. "I mean, look at how much trouble I've caused you."

"Tontu, you haven't been any trouble at all, really," Hilda insisted.

Tontu looked up, "Hilda, I've wrecked everything for you over the past few days. Y-you said yourself that you'd have gotten the badges you wanted if it weren't for me. And I'm the reason you're fighting with your mom, and the reason the Black Hound chased us from the Scout Hall and scared all those people. If none of that's trouble, then I don't know what is." He slumped back down again, "Maybe Frida's nisse was right. And your mom, too. You should stay away from me. If I had just… Fixed my own problems instead of making you feel like you had to fix them for me, none of this would have happened."

"If you hadn't let me in to help," Hilda corrected, "Jellybean would still be lost, wandering the streets and terrifying people. And Frida wouldn't have gotten her book back or found out where it went. And I wouldn't have got to learn anything about nisse or Nowhere Space."

"You probably could have done those things without me," Tontu said quietly, "It's not like I really helped that much, anyways."

Hilda slid off the chair and took a few steps closer, "What about when you helped us get Jellybean outside the town wall? Or fought Frida's nisse to get my beret back today? Or even when you walked with me to the Scout Hall when you saw I was upset? You didn't have to do any of those things if you didn't really want to."

Tontu rubbed his arm where Frida's nisse had bitten him. He winced, the pain throbbing with a new intensity now that it had been remembered. He quickly moved his arms behind his back and clasped them in an attempt to look nonchalant, though with the way Hilda had followed the motion, he could tell she had noticed.

"I did those things by accident at best," He dismissed, "My only real talent is being in the wrong place at the wrong time."

Hilda smiled, "I don't think that's right," She said. If anything, the opposite was true. "But… Even if you hadn't done those things on purpose… You know you don't have to do anything special to deserve a friendship, right? Friends do things because they care about each other. I'm helping you because I like you, and I care about you. And I can tell you feel the same way about me, even if you're not quite sure of it yet."

"It's just… Nisse don't really have 'friends'. And neither did Deborah," Tontu fretted. He did want to be a good friend to Hilda. She had done so much for him these past few days, and even when he had been sure he was going home, he hadn't liked the idea of never getting to see her again. But after everything, he wasn't sure he was one. Friends weren't supposed to make each other's lives worse, after all. The last thing he wanted to do was put Hilda through inconvenience after inconvenience on his behalf and call that 'friends'.

"I think you're learning. You just need to know that it's ok to ask your friends for help when you need it," Hilda said with a smile. She came over and knelt down, "Can I see your arm?"

Tontu hesitated, then moved his arm slowly out from behind his back, where Hilda could see it. Hilda grabbed it and rolled the sleeve up gently. "Tontu, this looks bad," She gasped, looking back up at him, "This has to hurt! Why didn't you tell anyone?"

The nisse shrugged and looked away. "You all seemed busy," he finally admitted, "I thought I could figure it out later on my own."

"Well, now you don't have to. I'll get you some disinfectant and bandages from the medicine closet," She offered. "And… Maybe you should stay home and rest tomorrow while this heals."

"Don't you need me if you're going to show Deborah the newspaper and send me back?" He asked. All this friend stuff had convinced him to stay the night instead of showing himself out. But he still hadn't grasped that Hilda could want him to stay for good.

Hilda looked him in the eyes, or, did her best to. "We're absolutely not doing that. She was bad for you, Tontu. Even if you can't stay here… Or don't want to…" She trailed off, "You don't have to go back there. David, Frida, and I are going to look for some nice houses tomorrow. And we'll be extra careful to check if they have nisse already. I was already going to ask if you wanted to stay home, actually, since you don't seem to like talking to people more than you have to." She smiled, "I'll bring back a list of the best possibilities, and we can go look at them together later."

"A-are you sure it's not too much trouble?" Tontu asked. He hated to relinquish what little he felt like he was contributing by making Hilda go out alone on his behalf.

"It won't even be out of the way," Hilda assured him with a smile, "Besides, most things aren't too much trouble when they're for a friend."

Hilda looked back up at the holes in the wall. She knew she could use them to see what her mother was up to, but she quickly realized that finding the right one among so many was a difficult task. Especially since they didn't seem to share any sort of intuitive spatial relation to the normal part of the house. At least, not to a human. Finally, Tontu pointed her towards one that would have a view of the kitchen. Johanna was still there, slumped at the table with her head in her hands. Alfur was sitting atop a pile of recently re-stacked papers while they had a conversation. Well, while Alfur had a conversation, at least. Johanna didn't appear to be saying much.

"I guess I should go apologize for yelling at Mum," Hilda admitted. She climbed to one of the exits and looked back. "You can stay in here if you want to. Just let me know if you need anything. Oh, and Twig and I will be sure to keep watch for our old nisse."

* * *

Hilda climbed out from under her mom's drawing table. She hit her head with a soft 'thump' and a louder, 'ow!'

Johanna turned and jumped out of her chair, running over. She grabbed Hilda's head and kissed it where it had hit the table. "Hilda, honey, are you alright?" She asked in the way that worried moms do. She knelt down and hugged Hilda tightly.

Hilda hugged her mother back, then pulled away to look at her. "I'm fine Mum. I'm- Sorry for yelling. And for making Tontu pull me into Nowhere Space like that."

Johanna sighed, "I'm sorry for making you feel like I haven't been listening to you. I'm under a lot of stress right now, but I'll try to do better," She promised. From the table, Alfur nodded encouragingly. If elves could give thumbs up, he would probably would have done so.

Twig trotted over and rubbed himself against Hilda's leg. She reached down and petted him between his antlers. "Thanks, mum. So, um… About Tontu," Hilda began.

"Yes, what about him?" Johanna asked gingerly.

"He's not feeling well right now," Hilda explained, "Would it be ok if he stayed here tomorrow while I go to the Sparrow Scout meeting? You won't even notice him, I promise! He's really good at being quiet!"

Relief washed over Johanna. No, this was good! If he was here and Hilda was out with the other scouts, that drastically lowered everyone's odds of getting into more trouble. "Of course!" She replied, "Does he need any medicine or anything… I-I don't know what a nisse would need but-"

"Maybe just some bandages and disinfectant. He scraped up his arm while we were playing today."

* * *

**Author's Note: This is the last of the chapters moved over from AO3. Subsequent chapters will be posted in both places as I finish them. There are some parts planned for later that I can't wait to get to!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter Summary: Johanna made too many cucumber sandwiches. The Sparrow Scouts have a guest speaker. Hilda skirts the truth.**

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**Author's Note: ****Erik Ahlberg is a character from the comics that has not yet appeared in the animated series. That being said this chapter does not contain any major spoilers for the comics. Enjoy!**

* * *

"It looks like we're running late," Johanna sighed as they stepped into the empty yard of the Sparrow Scouts headquarters. She paused and looked down at her watch. Almost fifteen after. No doubt everyone had already been called inside to start on the day's activities. "Sorry, Hilda. I must have underestimated how long it takes to get here on foot."

Hilda pivoted on her heel and began walking backwards, still making progress towards the hall. "It's alright, Mum! I've probably just missed the first half of announcements is all," she replied with a shrug, "If I have to, I'll just tell Raven Leader that we don't have a car anymore-"

"For reasons that were _not_ our fault and did not involve a barghest or any assortment of nisse-" Johanna added, taking a few long strides to catch up.

Hilda smiled and rolled her eyes, "Don't worry, I won't tell anyone anything that isn't already in the news," she promised. Unless she really, really needed to, of course. But hey, what were the odds of that?

Johanna frowned, catching a momentary glimpse of that 'unless' in Hilda's expression. But she didn't want to rekindle the argument they had gotten into last night, and she certainly didn't want to keep making Hilda feel like she wasn't being trusted. Not to mention she now felt guilty over making Hilda late for her Sparrow Scout meeting, too. She would just have to hope that Hilda understood the reasons why she should keep quiet.

"Just be careful," Johanna said finally, putting an arm around Hilda in a quick hug. "And have fun today! Maybe you can earn that fundraising badge for the next ceremony."

"I will! And… I'll try," Hilda replied, though her smile was smaller than before. "Thanks for letting Tontu stay at home today. I know you don't like him very much, but he really is nice. Maybe you guys could talk and find something in common while I'm gone," she suggested, looking up hopefully.

Johanna grimaced. She really was very busy today. Plus, without Hilda around she wasn't sure that the nisse would even emerge from wherever it was he could disappear to. Still, she owed Hilda, and by extension Tontu, a chance. "I'll try too," she promised back. That's what it meant to be a family, after all. You didn't always have to agree with your family, but you always had to try for them.

Hilda smiled and gave her mom another quick hug, "Thanks Mum." Then she turned and bounded towards the front steps of the scout hall.

Johanna smiled and waved after her daughter. Her other hand went to rest on her overly full purse, and she realized that she had forgotten something. "Hilda, wait!" Johanna called. Hilda turned and they met halfway.

"Take these. I made cucumber sandwiches for you and your friends today. Just in case you get hungry," Johanna said, handing off the paper bag.

Hilda grinned, "I'll be looking forward to these at lunch!" She opened her satchel but found it just a bit too small. She would have to work out how to get this many sandwiches into it later.

Hilda and Johanna exchanged their real goodbyes, then went their separate ways. Hilda towards the scout hall, and Johanna back towards home.

* * *

Hilda moved quietly, trying not to draw too much attention to herself. She was indeed late; Announcements were already in full swing, judging by the people gathered around the base of the stage. There were more parents here than usual today. They stood around the back of the auditorium, blocking Hilda's view of the podium the Raven Leader usually stood behind when they had a crowd of this size.

Hilda paused near the back of the crowd to try and tuck the bag of cucumber sandwiches into her purse once more, wincing slightly at the loud crinkling noises it was making. She expected at least a few of the nearby adults to turn around and scold her, but they seemed entirely focused on the speaker who… Now that she thought about it, didn't really sound like Raven Leader at all. Hilda paused her sandwich stuffing endeavor and listened in.

"-is our primary concern. Rest assured, we're working hard to find the beast, and we won't stop until our streets, our homes, and most importantly- our children- are safe once more!"

Hilda frowned and squished the bag down and shut her purse the best she could. This seemed more important than the integrity of a few sandwiches. She squeezed into the group of adults and wove between their legs to try and find a better view of the stage. Hardly any of the parents noticed her beyond glancing down or shifting out of her way. They were all transfixed on the mystery speaker. From below, Hilda could see worried frowns and creased brows on each of their faces. It was the same way her mother looked before deciding to act in the way Hilda most hated. Like when she had first suggested they move to Trolberg. Or when she had tried to stop Hilda from helping Tontu or Jellybean. As she neared a gap in the crowd, Hilda finally caught a glimpse of the stage and her worst suspicions were confirmed.

A large, balding man standing behind the podium. He was clutching its sides and leaning out imposingly over the crowd. His face was unfamiliar to Hilda, but his uniform wasn't. The crisp purple overcoat and too-shiny boots reflected bright stage lights harshly. The many badges pinned to his chest gleamed, bragging of high rank. Behind him, the three officers from the night of the car crash stood at attention, their rifles polished and slung across their backs.

"Our head hound-hunting team has cleared your Scout Hall for now. No signs point to the monster returning," the lead man explained to the adults. The parents murmured uneasily and at this and he held up a hand, "And if it does, this time, we'll be ready."

The whispers quieted down but didn't disappear. The man seemed satisfied enough, though, and turned his attention to the group of scouts standing near the front of the crowd. His voice went a shade gentler. It was intended to be soothing, but the words it delivered made Hilda's skin crawl: "Now remember, children. If you or anyone you know finds a trace of that nasty beast, report it straight to me or one of my fine Safety Patrol officers," he gestured to the three behind him, "They'll know what to do with the monster when they find it. And they _will_ find it."

Hilda's eyes snapped to the three officers behind him. The man with the mustache grinned, and the red-bearded man cracked his knuckles. The woman shouldered her rifle and kept her one eye straight ahead, scanning the crowd. Hilda instinctively shrunk back, hiding amid the adults around her.

"You can take it from me- Or my name isn't Erik Ahlberg. Our city is depending on them, after all!" the guest speaker, Erik, finished. He stepped aside and gestured to the team behind him. The applause was hesitant at first, but it didn't take long for it to gain traction. The motion swept through the crowd as individuals followed each other's leads. It overtook any remaining doubts the crowd seemed to have. Even if this new hound hunting team was imposing in stature and unkind in expression, they were offering protection from something everyone feared even more; The monster that supposedly still lurked the walled city's streets.

A lump was rising in Hilda's throat, but she couldn't tell if it was because she was angry or scared. It was probably the first one, right? It had to be. Hilda didn't do 'scared'. She had promised her mother she wouldn't tell anyone they knew where Jellybean went, but she had to say _something_. She pushed back into the gap in the crowd and set her feet firmly on the floorboards. She thrust her hand up into the air and waved it around, as she had been taught to do to get the teacher's attention in school.

Erik Ahlberg looked to Hilda. She felt the gazes of the three officers behind him lock onto her as well. She avoided searching their faces for any hint of recognition; Doing so would surely make her lose her nerve.

"Yes- little girl with the blue hair. You have a question?" Erik asked.

Hilda nodded and lowered her hand, "What will you do if you can't find the hound? Like… Say he went away, and he wasn't going to bother anybody again. What would you do then?"

Erik laughed. "Well, then I suppose our job would be done. But let me remind you of this- Beasts like that don't just amble quietly off into the night once they've had their fill of fear. They have to be tracked down and taught their lesson," he said enthusiastically.

The one-eyed woman leaned over to whisper something to the bearded man. Hilda swallowed hard, but continued, "But what if he went somewhere you can't go? And it wasn't worth following. Would you give up then?"

"Little girl, I can assure you- we don't just 'give up'," Erik chuckled. He took his hat off and held it patriotically over his heart, "The safety of our fair Trolberg is worth following any beast anywhere. Even to the darkest, most twisted lair. Don't you worry a blue hair on your little head. We won't stop until the Black Hound is defeated, and we'll do whatever we have to do to see it through!"

That was _exactly_ what she was worried about. Hilda opened her mouth again but was distracted by the Raven Leader weaving into the crowd and putting a hand on her shoulder. "Thank you for your input, Hilda! But we've really got to let these men get back to work," she said, half to Hilda, and half to everyone else in the room. Then she stood and called out, "Let's have another round of applause for Erik Ahlberg and his Safety Patrol!"

The crowd began to clap again. Under the applause, the Raven Leader leaned down and spoke gently, "Hilda, what happened at the ceremony must have been very scary for you… But I'm afraid this isn't quite the time or place to talk about it. Why don't you come to me after announcements? I think we could have a better conversation then."

"What? No, I'm not-" Hilda protested, pushing away. She looked around. Even through the applause, many of the adults and scouts were starting to stare at Hilda. She was the one who had faced the Black Hound and survived to tell the tale, after all. She looked back up and forced a smile to show she appreciated Raven Leader's concern, "Thank you, but I really am fine. I don't need to talk about it. I just wanted to ask those men some questions," she insisted.

The Raven Leader's expression was skeptical, but she didn't push the issue further. "Alright. Maybe we can arrange something with them later," she said gently, "but I want you to know I'm here for you if you do decide you need to talk things over with someone more familiar."

The applause was beginning to wane, so the Raven Leader straightened up and made her way back over to the stage. She traded places with the Safety Patrol men, shaking Erik's hand on the way. He smiled and nodded appreciatively, then strode past the crowd and out the front doors of the hall. The officers followed behind, whispering to each other. Hilda thought she saw the one-eyed woman gesture subtly in her direction as they passed. She stared back, but the adults continued out the doors as if they didn't notice- or simply didn't care.

Up on stage, the Raven Leader began to speak, trying to calm the crowd back down and bring things back into focus. "And with that, let's get back to business, shall we? The Jumble Sale will open on Friday as planned, though we have a lot of work to do to make up for lost time over the past two days…."

"Hilda!" Someone called. Hilda startled, tearing her eyes away from the door the Safety Patrol had shut behind them. She looked to see David and Frida making their way towards her.

"Are you alright?" Frida asked, "You look as pale as Alfur!"

"I'm fine- really," Hilda insisted, crossing her arms and digging her fingers into them.

"What was all that about? Why didn't you just tell those men the Black Hound is gone?" Frida asked.

"Also-," David interrupted, "Did you know you and Tontu appeared in the newspaper yesterday? My dad brought home a copy-"

"I know, I know. My mum showed us last night too," Hilda replied, "but… I need you guys to keep everything I told you yesterday secret." She looked up at the adults around them. Their focus was looser now that it was only the Raven Leader speaking. "Let's go over there," She suggested, pointing to a spot near the far wall. As long as they talked quietly, they shouldn't need to worry about anyone overhearing them there. She made her way through the crowd again with David and Frida close behind.

Once they reached the wall, Hilda turned. She placed one hand over the side of her mouth conspiratorially. "You didn't tell any of your parents about the you-know-what, did you?" she asked.

Frida and David both shook their heads.

"Are you kidding? Mine would kill me if they knew about the crazy things you get us into. Of course I've been keeping it secret," Frida assured her.

David just shrugged, "I don't even tell my parents half the normal things I do."

"Good. My mum didn't want me to tell anyone I knew what happened to Jellybean. And… I think I'm starting to see why," Hilda replied, looking back towards the crowd. Erik Ahlberg's assurances that they'd chase the beast anywhere and do anything to stop it still echoed in her mind. Even if Hilda couldn't tell them where exactly Jellybean had gone after entering the place nisse do not go, what would they do if they thought there was a chance they could follow? What if there _was_ a chance they could follow? "Still, though. We've got to come up with some way to tell everyone to stop being so afraid in the meantime."

Frida blinked. "I mean- Do we?" she asked, holding a hand out. "I think it would be easier to keep this a secret entirely. Everyone will tire themselves out on this eventually. As long as the Black Hound doesn't reappear, there's nothing left for them to be afraid of."

"Right..." Hilda responded, "But what if the Safety Patrol hurts someone while they're looking for him? And what about Tontu? If my mum won't let him stay and we can't tell anyone he's innocent, where will he go?"

"I know I'm usually the one to put things off but... I really think we should solve those problems as we come to them," David said. "You always do find a way to fix things in the end, Hilda."

Frida put a calming hand on her shoulder, "We can't plan for anything we don't know will happen yet, either. How about we keep helping with the Jumble Sale in the meantime? I'm sure some kind of solution will come up," she said with a reassuring smile.

"Come on- Let's go stand with the other scouts before we get in trouble for not listening to announcements," David suggested. A few of the adults were starting to look their way again.

Hilda sighed, but let her friends lead her back to where their peers were standing. Now she was the one doing all the worrying. But she just couldn't stand having her hands tied like this. "I just hope you guys are right..."


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter Summary: Hilda, David, and Frida go house hunting. The Jumble Sale reaches new customers. Hilda finds a loophole.**

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**Author's Note: Apologies for the delay! This chapter is really exposition-heavy and I had a lot of trouble with it. Hopefully all this setup will be worth it as the rest of the plot unfolds!**

* * *

"Well, thank you very much!" The man at the door was portly and sported a bushy ginger moustache with matching eyebrows. He took the Jumble Sale flier David was holding out.

Their messenger bag was almost empty now. Frida was back and better than ever at scout work- She had meticulously reworked their route to allow them to hand out fliers quickly and look for houses for Tontu. She had insisted that it was the least she could do to thank Hilda for yesterday. So far, both missions had been great successes.

Getting out of the scout hall, on the other hand, had been a little dicey. Some parents had called for the outgoing scouts to have chaperones, despite the fact that there were not nearly enough volunteers to fill these new positions. Hilda, David, and Frida had managed to slip away just in time, before their plans could be rearranged by nervous adults.

"See you at the Jumble Sale," David said politely.

The man at the door smiled, "Wouldn't miss it! We should have lots of room for new items this year. Had to clean out our whole first floor over the weekend after it got tore up- So, it's perfect timing!"

"If you don't mind me asking- what happened?" Hilda asked, sensing another lead on the house-hunting front.

The man sighed and ran a hand over the back of his head. Just as expected: "We had a problem with a nisse. Little guy got into the house and tore everything up out of the blue one afternoon. Even managed to smash the sofa, somehow. It was all we could do to send him out and try to clean up afterwards."

Hilda nodded, but had to stop herself from saying anything more. It was clear Jellybean was the one responsible here, too.

"Well, we've had a few sofas donated this year," Frida said, picking up the conversation where Hilda had left it. "I can let Raven Leader know you're looking for one, Mr…" she trailed off, hoping for a name.

"You can call me Olaf," the man said, "And I'll look forward to it!"

Hilda pulled out her notepad and jotted everything into her list. She already had pages and pages of houses that had banished their nisse. Really, too many to bring Tontu around to when they only had a week. The number of house spirits they had seen wandering the streets seemed to reflect the number of vacant nests too, though Hilda hadn't been able to catch any that were willing to have a conversation about it. So far, at least.

The scouts waved goodbye to Mr. Olaf and headed back to the sidewalk. His house was brick with yellow shutters and a wonderful garden out front. A neatly trimmed hedge bounded the front and sides of the yard.

"What do you think about this house? That guy seemed pretty nice. Plus, I remember Tontu saying his old house had a garden," David offered.

Hilda tapped her pencil on the page as she considered it. "Yeah, I think it could be good," she decided, "I'll mark it down as one we should come back to."

"Well, the bright side of the Black Hound tearing through all those nisse nests that it's made this whole house hunting thing a lot easier. Not to mention, it looks like it's going to bring in great business for the Jumble Sale. This might be the biggest one we've ever had," Frida pointed out.

"I guess so," Hilda agreed, "I just thought more nisse would be able to find new homes by now. I know I'm looking out for Tontu already, but I'm starting to get a little worried for everyone else, too. I mean, just look at how long this list is getting," she held her pad up and shuffled through a few pages to make her point.

"Maybe they need some more time?" David suggested. The last thing Hilda need this week was another worry, "It's only been two days since you got Jellybean out of town, after all. And it seems like people don't really want nisse back in their houses yet."

"Well, you can't very well blame them," a voice scoffed. A furry head emerged from the hedge behind them, "Most nisse aren't very trustworthy, after all!" he paused to stroke his chin, "I'm honestly surprised it's taken this long for humans to get sick of us."

David squinted, "Tontu?" The nisse crawled out of the bush and stood, pulling leaves from his fur. It was the Tontu look-alike from before. He was similar in appearance to Hilda's friend, but the fluff on his head was more neatly kempt. Particularly, it was brushed away from the eyes, and styled into a ginger mustache under the nose.

"Speaking," the lookalike said unhelpfully. He studied the three children for a moment before his eyes fell on Hilda. He snapped his fingers for a moment, trying to place where he had seen her before. "Oh, I know you! You're the little girl who talked to me in that alley the other day. Ever find the nisse you were looking for?"

"I did, actually. Thank you," Hilda replied.

The look-alike nodded, "Good for the both of you. Glad to see someone that still appreciates their house spirit. That's rare to find these days- I'm honestly a little jealous." He chuckled, though with the way his eyebrows drooped, it was clear he meant it much more than his tone let on.

"If you don't mind us asking, is this the house you used to live in?" Hilda said, pointing to the house they had just come from. She had a hunch, given the resemblance he bore to the man at the door.

The mustached nisse nodded eagerly, "It's nice, isn't it? You should see inside!" Then more quietly he added, "I miss being inside…."

"Is that why you've come back?" Frida asked sympathetically.

The nisse looked down at his feet, "I'd guess that's a part of it. Though, I'm also unsure of where else I can go," he admitted. "Not to mention, I'm really not so keen on the idea of someone else trying to move in on my old territory while I'm gone. Even if Mr. Olaf and his new family did kick me out… I can't very well leave them without any protection what-so-ever, can I? Especially not with all these other nisse out-"

They were suddenly interrupted by a clatter from somewhere beyond the hedge behind him. The nisse jumped, his fur standing on end. He whirled around to watch a trash can lid rolled lazily down the driveway on the other side of the hedge before falling over onto the sidewalk. A second house spirit shuffled after it. This one was rather stout with a long, reddish nose and a bushy, white beard. He kicked the trash can lid up with one foot, then pushed it a few steps back up the driveway.

The mustached nisse relaxed and rolled his eyes muttering, "Oh- It's only _him_." He turned back to the scouts, "Case in point, I suppose. Can't have nisse like that wandering in and making a mess of things."

The white bearded nisse looked in their direction as he passed. "Nisse like me?" He maneuvered the trashcan lid so that it leaned against the other side of the hedge. "I believe you're the one that got yourself ousted. I'd not be throwing stones if I were you." He took a moment to look Hilda up and down, before giving her a small nod of acknowledgement, "Void question girl. Didn't get yourself into anything dangerous since we last met, did you?"

Before Hilda could respond, the first nisse put his hands on his hips and said, "I'll have you know that I've protected my household years! And I'm still doing my duties as a house spirit, unlike _some_. So, I'll kindly ask you not to lean your garbage against my plants."

The white bearded nisse scoffed. "Huh. Your household? Your plants? Last I checked these belonged to the family that banished you. Not sure any amount of loitering changes that."

"That's talk from someone living in their house lady's trash can," the mustached nisse retorted. "If you're so above it all, why don't you leave Margit's house and strike out for a new territory? It would stop you from annoying me! I'm sure the humans would appreciate it too."

Hilda, David, and Frida could only awkwardly shake their heads as they were pulled into the argument.

"You don't speak for them," the white-bearded nisse replied. His voice dropped into a menacing tone and he took a step closer, "But if all you really want if for one of us to leave this street… I think we can arrange for that."

The two house spirits began to bristle at each other, clearly well on the road to an actual fight.

"We've got to do something," Frida whispered.

David nodded. He had gone a bit pale. "_We_ could leave this street instead," he suggested, grinning sheepishly. It was clear he already knew that wasn't an option.

"David, someone could get hurt if they fight," Hilda hissed back. She scrambled desperately for a real solution. Suddenly, her elbow bumped her satchel. Something inside crumpled faintly… "But I think I know a way to stop them."

Hilda bounded forward and slid between the two nisse, breaking up their staring contest. She brandished a lumpy, paper bag that smelled strongly of dill and cucumbers.

"Look! I've got lunch!" she announced. "And there's enough for everyone! But _only_ if they can sit down and have a peaceful conversation. You guys are hungry, right?"

* * *

The answer, of course, was a reluctant 'yes' on the part of the two nisse.

Though they each resented the other being involved, they were far too hungry to turn down the food being offered to them. It was nearing lunch time for the three humans as well, and so everyone agreed to picnic on the sidewalk under Olaf's hedge. Hilda situated herself right on the property line, which the two nisse agreed not to cross. There she pulled out the paper bag her mother had given her that morning and began handing out cucumber sandwiches. For once, she was glad her mother had given her so much extra food to carry around.

The two nisse took their sandwiches and scurried back several feet back- as far as they could get from each other while still remaining part of the picnic.

Once everyone had settled in, Hilda began to chat again. "So, how about this: I know you're both named Tontu, but we do need some way to refer to each of you," she began. The two nisse eyed each other from across the group, but their mouths were full of cucumber sandwich and so they couldn't really complain.

"We'll call you by your original housemate's names. So that makes you Olaf Tontu," Hilda explained, pointing to the nisse with the moustache and bushy eyebrows, "and you Margit Tontu," she finished, pointing to the nisse with the white beard.

"Fair enough," Olaf Tontu mumbled. Margit Tontu grunted in what was probably agreement. Both still thought they were the real Tontu, of course. But in this way, they each had a personal designation that could streamline conversation. Who would have thought?

"And if you need one of us specifically, I'm Hilda," Hilda said, pointing to herself, "This is Frida," Frida gave a small wave when mentioned, "And this is David." David smiled nervously, still watching for any signs the nisse weren't going to get along.

They had barely finished hashing out names when Hilda looked up to see another nisse standing on the other side of the street. This one was tall and skinny, and had a short cloud of frizzy, grey hair. Her clothes were dingy, aside from a shiny, heart-shaped locket that hung down to her chest.

"Oh, hello!" Hilda called to her. The two already invited nisse stared offputtingly. It might not be a good idea to add a third house spirit to the already volatile company, but Hilda being Hilda, she couldn't _not_ extend a helping hand. "Are you hungry?"

The nisse looked around anxiously for a moment before coming to the conclusion that Hilda couldn't be speaking to anyone else. She pointing to herself and mouthed 'me?'.

"Yes, you," Hilda assured her. She reached into her bag and pulled out a cucumber sandwich. "Do you like sandwiches? We still have a few more!" She stood to hold the sandwich out to the newcomer, but the movement sent the skittish nisse running. She scrambled behind the bushes at the edge of the far yard and vanished.

Hilda lowered the sandwich in disappointment.

"Maybe she doesn't like cucumber sandwiches," David offered through a mouthful of his own.

"Not really a good time to be picky if you ask me," Margit Tontu scoffed from behind him. He shrugged, "More for us."

Olaf Tontu stroked his mustache, "I've seen her around… She comes from that house with the big tree out front, I believe. Haven't really been paying her much mind- She's so timid you can scare her off just by looking at her."

Margit Tontu just shook his head, "You're a fool to let your guard down. She has a guilty face."

"Well, if she won't stay for sandwiches, then there isn't much we need to do about her for now," Frida mediated. Then, to Hilda she gave a reassuring smile and added, "I think we've got enough nisse on our hands already."

* * *

"So… I still don't get it," David said. They had been eating and talking for several minutes now. The immediate conflict between the two house spirits had been solved, but there was clearly a bigger issue in play. "I know you guys like your old houses, but why not just move somewhere nearby and keep an eye on them from there?"

Margit Tontu laughed wryly, "If only it were that simple, kid. There are too many of us out of our homes right now. Even if we went looking for new territories all across the city, there's no guarantee we'd be able to keep them."

Olaf Tontu nodded. "Ordinarily, there would only be a few nisse out on the streets at a time. Not that other nisse never do anything wrong, of course," he paused, pointedly tilting his head towards the other nisse in the group, "but most of them are exceedingly good at not getting caught."

Margit Tontu mumbled something to the effect of 'You would know' under his breath.

"When a nisse is banished, that isn't the end of it," Olaf Tontu continued, electing to ignore the under the breath comment for the sake of his explanation to the humans. "That nisse has to find somewhere else to go- And that somewhere else is bound to have a house spirit already, of course."

Margit Tontu cut in, "And when one side has nothing to lose, and the other has everything to… Disputes over territory tend to be destructive. In fact, the goal of a fight is often to get the other banished, if you can't drive them away with force alone. Though it's not unusual for both nisse to get caught out in the open at the wrong moment." He looked to Hilda, "Given the way you broke us up, I'd guess you know what I mean."

Hilda nodded gravely. Her old house spirit and Tontu had really torn up Hilda's apartment in their fight, and Frida's nisse hadn't been playing around yesterday afternoon either.

Olaf Tontu hummed in annoyance as his explanation was hijacked. Though, it was clear he couldn't find any reason to dispute what the other house spirit had said. "Right. So, fighting leads to nisse getting themselves in trouble all over again. In this way, one banishment often leads to a rash of a few more. Eventually, everyone will shuffle into what new territory they can find, and things will settle down." His eyebrows furrowed, "The problem now is, with so many nisse getting thrown out across town and humans becoming more suspicious of us every day, I believe that last bit to be nearly impossible. I don't think I've seen anyone on this street hold a new territory for more than a day since I ended up out here."

Magit Tontu sighed, "Not to mention, none of us want to see our old homes become battlegrounds. Even if we were banished, some of us still care about our old families. I haven't had the heart to stray too far from Margit's yard. The last thing I want is someone else moving in and causing trouble for her." He cocked his head pointedly towards Olaf Tontu.

"What, me? I would never! Why, you're the one she had to throw out!" Olaf Tontu cried, throwing his hands out.

David thought for a moment. It seemed like both nisse really did care for their old families, even at the other's insistence they didn't. "Do you ever think no one trusts nisse because you guys are always trying to tell them not to?"

"Well, I never- I only say it because it's true!" Olaf Tontu huffed, "You haven't been walking around talking to nisse all morning, have you? They'll have you turned around before you know it!"

"More like all week," Margit Tontu quipped, motioning to Hilda. "But I guess I can see what you mean, kid. Maybe humans take our solitary natures to heart more than they should. I can't see many giving their nisse second chances."

Frida looked between the two house spirits. They really weren't as different as they thought. In fact, she was starting to come up with an idea. "Well… If you can't get back into your old houses, why don't you two just trade? That way you'd both have somewhere to live that's close to your old families." She looked to Hilda, "And maybe with a fresh start, you could have a chance to build better relationships with the humans in your homes. Hilda and I know firsthand how that goes."

The two nisse froze. They looked to each other, then the kids, then back again.

Then, Olaf Tontu's expression broke. He began to laugh, "Oh- That's- That's a good one. You don't really…" he looked into Frida's resolved expression for another moment, then diverted his gaze, "Oh. You do really think… No, no. I'm sorry but that isn't how nisse work."

Hilda was suddenly reminded of Alfur. The way he sometimes recommended contracts or paperwork to solve interpersonal issues between humans. It always seemed… Silly. '_Humans just don't work that way,' _She'd have to tell him. And yet, even though his methods seemed ridiculous, the core of Alfur's elven philosophy was rarely wrong. It was the communication that counted, even if they didn't get it in writing or sign in triplicate to confirm it. Maybe Frida was on the right track.

"Well… Then why don't you guys just tell us what happened when you got banished, and what you miss about your old homes. It would feel good to get it all off your chests, wouldn't it?" Hilda tried.

The nisse only regarded each other with narrowed eyes.

"Plus, I've got a whole list of unclaimed houses right here," Hilda offered, flipping her pad back to the list and waving it tantalizingly. "Even if it's hard to keep a territory, this could sure narrow down your search. Maybe if you tell us what you like, we could tell you where to look when you're ready to try."

"Well, since you've been so nice with the sandwiches… And if you really think it would help us move on…" Olaf Tontu relented, though he still seemed skeptical. He pointed to Margit Tontu, "I just don't want him to get the wrong idea. My house is not up for grabs."

"Likewise," Margit Tontu replied simply.

"Well, we can't make you trade if you're determined not to," Frida admitted. "But I can say that talking about your problems is always better than bottling them up."

"Even if you do like to be alone most of the time," David added.

Olaf Tontu sighed, "Well… If you kids insist. Where to begin? Mr. Olaf is a forgetful man. Why, he'd lose his own head if it weren't attached! Or, at the very least leave the faucet running. I'd always have to be on my toes with him around. Once I even had to save us from burning the house down with a toaster oven!" He chuckled, remembering what must have been a harrowing tale ending with the nisse unplugging a smoking kitchen appliance.

His expression fell as he continued, "But… when he started seeing this new woman, things changed. I mean I'm happy for him and I love his new family but- Well, they really began taking care of him like I used to. I felt out of a job at times. And the kids aren't bad, but… I can't say I don't miss the quiet. Not to mention, the new family has Mr. Olaf too busy to garden like he used to. I would have taken it over if I could, but… He hired help to do it for him instead."

He sighed again, but seemed to realize his story was getting too negative. He shook his head against the idea that he was unhappy with his old home, "It's not all bad though, I assure you! Otherwise I'd have been happy to leave- It's just… A new normal I've had to learn to live with. Unfortunately, getting banished a few weeks ago has really made that difficult. I heard a commotion in the house and by the time I got there, everything was just…" he waved his hands around, "Like that! I saw something leaving through one of the entrances to Nowhere Space, but… It was quite large. Much the wrong shape for a nisse."

Hilda nodded supportively through the story. At the end she said, "I'm sorry, that must have been really hard." She knew what a big change in life could feel like. She looked to Margit Tontu, "Your turn," She prompted.

Margit Tontu pointed his nose towards her. Unlike the other nisse, he didn't seem like the talkative type. But… This is what they were doing now, he supposed. "Margit is sort of a lonely person. I always felt like she needed company- More than I could ever give her, even if she actually did know I was there. Sometimes she has neighbors over, but it's not really the same. She used to have family visit. Kids and grandkids that lived in town. I loved the excitement. She did too, I think. But… eventually life came up and the kids moved away. Hardly ever visit now. The quiet days drug on and I was always finding myself in ruts. Margit is always looking for a new hobby to break her own ruts, but she never finds one that sticks. For either of us. She tried gardening in the spring, but she was lost, and that kind of work was never my forte," he shrugged. "That was a tiring few months. I'm glad it didn't last, in a guilty sort of way."

"As for why I'm out here… Something got into my nest, trashed the house, and framed me- That's all I know. It had big, glowing eyes that stared at me when I tried to confront it. Then it charged, knocking me out into the guest bedroom. It vanished shortly after, leaving me with the mess. Whatever that thing was, it wasn't a house spirit, even if it could jump through Nowhere Space like one."

"Oh, now you're just riding on my monster story," Olaf Tontu huffed, though he didn't sound sure himself. He flicked his tail agitatedly, "I knew I shouldn't have gone first!"

"You made yours up on the spot," Margit Tontu replied, "You said yourself you were unhappy with your new housemates."

"I said I _wasn't_ unhappy- Not more unhappy than I am out here, at least. You're the one that's been trying to break a rut! Getting yourself kicked out would surely do _that_," Olaf Tontu retaliated.

The three scouts made eye contact. This was… Not going as well as anyone had hoped. The two house spirits seemed determined to find fault in each other no matter what. David shrugged. He leaned over to Hilda and whispered, "I wonder if they'd believe each other if they knew?" It was more of a rhetorical question than anything and yet-

"You think they would?" Hilda whispered back, just a little too eagerly. She pulled her notepad out of her satchel and flipped to the back page. There, she began scribbling out a crude drawing of Jellybean.

"Wait, Hilda, you're sure it's alright to tell them?" Frida cautioned, looking between the two house spirits. They were already locking eyes again and, worse, the sandwiches had been gone for a while. It was becoming uncertain how much longer this lunch truce would last.

"Yeah, what happened to 'Don't tell anyone what I told you yesterday'?" David added. "You do remember how scared you were this morning, right?"

Hilda kept drawing as quickly as she could. "I wasn't scared! I was… Just a little worried, was all," she protested. "And… A lot of nisse really already know. They just haven't put it all together yet. Besides, my mum didn't want me to tell other _people_ about this. She didn't say anything about spirits."

"Well… That's a loophole Alfur would be proud of," David relented. Frida just pinched the bridge of her nose, knowing clearly that this wasn't what Hilda's mother had meant. And yet, she couldn't come up with a good argument against it. Nisse had been encountering the Black Hound for months, and they hadn't let anyone know about it.

Finally, Hilda cleared her throat loudly, repeating the sound until she had gotten both house spirits' attention. She flipped her pad around for them to study. "I saw the thing that trashed your houses," she announced. "It got into mine, too. My nisse and I chased it out of town a few days ago. If you've heard of the Black Hound… Well, this is him."

"Why, That's the shape of it!" Olaf's Tontu cried.

"Those eyes. You've seen them too," The white bearded nisse breathed.

The two nisse exchanged a brief look of recognition with each other before turning quickly away. Though they didn't want to admit it, the evidence was clear. Neither of them was lying.

"See? Everyone is telling the truth. And you both care about your families. You could at least trade for their sakes. That way, they can have someone watching out for them _inside_ the house again," Hilda pleaded. "I know this isn't how nisse normally do things but… Maybe it's time to try something new. Give it a chance for just a few days- If it's not good, you can come and find one of the three of us, and we'll help you sort it out."

"And just how would we know where to do that?" Olaf Tontu asked obstinately. Though admittedly, it was a good point.

Hilda sucked in a breath. Her instinct would be to tell them to come to her house. But with Tontu there and already flighty about the whole scenario… And she wasn't sure Frida's nisse (or David's yet to be met house spirit) would take kindly to a trespasser either. Where else could they expect to find her within a reasonable amount of time? "Well… Uh…" she stalled.

"Just come to Sparrow Scout Headquarters. We're going to be there all week doing things for the Jumble Sale anyways," David pointed out nonchalantly. "You know where to find it right?"

Margit Tontu chuckled, "Kid, we don't get out much. We don't know where to find anything."

David frowned, then turned and leafed through his nearly empty bag of fliers.

"David! Those are supposed to be for the houses on our route!" Frida protested.

"Raven Leader won't know if we miss a few," David responded, handing them down to the two nisse. "Follow the directions on these. But only if you really have to," he explained.

The house spirits shuffled over and took the pages and studied them, nodding approvingly for a moment. Then they caught the other nodding and looked away again.

"You're not seriously thinking of going through with this, are you?" Olaf Tontu asked.

"Oh, I know you're itching to make a move on this place. I saw your face when I mentioned how quiet it was," Margit Tontu retorted.

Olaf Tontu rolled his eyes, "And I saw yours when I mentioned you'd not have to do any yard work. What a shame that would be for _you_."

"You just keep lying, don't you?" the white bearded nisse grumbled. "You can't see my face under this hat."

Hilda's stomach churned. After everything they had said- everything they had done, were these nisse really so stubborn in their dislike of each other as to let it all fall through? What was wrong with them? Now that she thought about it, what was wrong with people? It felt like nobody was willing to give on anything, anymore. How was she supposed to fix things when everyone was-

Suddenly, Olaf Tontu's tail uncurled, and he turned towards the other house spirit. "Well… If you of all nisse are willing to take a chance on this… Then so am I," he said, extending a hand over the property line.

"Ditto," Margit Tontu replied, shaking it.

The two nisse released hands, then paused for a long moment. Finally, they began to move, each slinking over to the other's side. They stood for several moments more, just staring at the other. Though they seemed more uncertain of what should happen next than wary.

Finally, Margit Tontu spoke. "You… Should be able to get into Nowhere Space from under the front porch. There's a crawlspace underneath that Margit doesn't know about."

"There's a broken gardening rack up against the house out back. Completely forgotten; Hard to miss for a nisse. The space behind any of the shelves will do, but mind the splinters," Olaf Tontu explained. "Take care of them for me. Olaf, his family… Well, I'm sure you know."

"Likewise," Margit Tontu said simply, though it was clear by his tone that he wasn't being flippant this time. He truly meant it.

Hilda was almost vibrating with excitement. It was all she could do to contain herself from making a noise and interrupting the moment.

"Hilda? Are you alright?" David asked quietly.

"I can't believe we did it," Hilda replied. She thought for a moment, "Do you guys know what this means? This could change everything!" She pulled her notepad back out and began furiously scribbling.

Olaf Tontu shrugged good naturedly. The white-haired nisse tipped his head. It was a stark contrast to their earlier bickering.

Finally, Hilda flipped the notebook around. She had added to her picture of the Black Hound. Now it was knocking aside a nisse that looked like her Tontu. He had a small tear coming out of one eye, and a speech bubble that said 'Oh no! My house!' Across the top she had written 'Lost your home?' and across the bottom: 'Nisse House Fair!'

"An event for homeless nisse?" Frida asked.

"Exactly. If we can help everyone pick out new homes without needing to fight over them, houses will stop being wrecked, and nisse will stop getting banished," Hilda explained. "We could invite people, too. Maybe we could show them that nisse aren't so bad after all. And there's always a chance that a family that wants a new nisse could meet one they like!"

"You're sure that will work?" David asked, glancing at the two nisse beside him.

"We did it once, didn't we?" Hilda asked, "All we have to do is take what we learned here and do it again."

"And again, and again," Frida cautioned, "Hilda, there are a LOT of nisse out of their homes right now. We'll need some way to organize this. And some way to get humans _and_ nisse to attend." She was trying to play the voice of reason here, though she was already starting to run the numbers in her head. She couldn't help but love a good organizational puzzle.

"What if we did it at the same time as the Jumble Sale?" David asked. "Lots of people like to go to that. We'd only have to tell nisse about it, and they could all just meet us at the scout hall since we'll be there anyways."

"David, that's brilliant," Hilda cried, "hand me a Jumble Sale flier!" Then, seeing Frida's annoyed expression she added, "I won't ruin it, don't worry."

David obliged and Hilda began copying information from the flier over to her poster, but the page quickly became cluttered. She ripped it out and stuffed it in her pocket before starting a neater, hybrid version of the two. "We can use the copy machine to make posters from this and leave them where we think only nisse will find them- In alleys and behind bushes and stuff."

"And you're sure Raven Leader will let us do this?" Frida asked from over her shoulder.

"We're meant to be friends to spirits and do good things," Hilda replied, "she'll at least have to let us try! We can promise to run it all by ourselves if we have to- With the three of us, and maybe Alfur to write up all the agreements, I know we can handle this."

It was a long shot. But Hilda looked more hopeful than she had earlier in the morning. It was hard for David or Frida to tell her 'no'.

"Let's give it a try," Frida relented, "If we head straight back to the Scout Hall, we won't get the fundraising badge, but we will have time to tell Raven Leader about our idea and start working on it."

"You kids are creative, I'll give you that," The white haired nisse said.

"What he means to say is, thank you. And we both think you can do it," Olaf Tontu finished, cocking an eyebrow at the smaller nisse.

"I suppose. If you want to be sappy about it…" He turned around and shuffled up the path to Olaf's house. He paused and looked back, "But, if anyone can pull this off, it will be you three. Thank you."

* * *

**Author's Note: Olaf Tontu's name actually comes from the Hilda Creatures game! Margit Tontu is a made-up name for that character following that same pattern.**


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter Summary: Tontu cleans house. Johanna finds common ground. A past mistake is revealed.**

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**Author's Note: Hello to everyone still here! ****I know I took a pretty long break without warning but don't worry (or start worrying again) because I'm still writing!**

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Tontu sat stiffly in the old armchair. His arm was feeling a lot better after being properly dressed and bandaged, at least. There wasn't much else to do now but wait. The concept of downtime- inside a house, no less- was feeling just a bit alien to him now, after weeks of living like a feral cat. What did he even do before climbing trees, hiding in trash cans, and running from giant dogs?

He sighed and looked around the unfamiliar nest once more. Its previous occupant hadn't had much regard for cleanliness, to put it politely. She clearly had more pressing interests, like reading the stack of adventure novels near the armchair. Nisse often 'borrowed' traits from the humans in their households, much in the same way they borrowed objects. Hilda's influence on her nisse was clear (though from the timings it seemed that their shared love of befriending strange creatures was a coincidence).

Tontu could see now that had borrowed traits from his old housemate as well. The aloofness, the prickliness, the inability to look beyond the end of one's own nose… Hilda's words from the previous night echoed in his mind- _She was bad for you, Tontu. _As awful as being banished had made these last few weeks, maybe there was a silver lining to it all. He could return everything he had taken from his old home and start from scratch. This time, he could choose the home he wanted to live in, and the kind of house spirit _he_ wanted to be.

Tontu knitted his fingers together. This inspirational monologue was great and all… Hilda would probably be proud of him. But, ah… It was overwhelming to take in all at once. He hadn't even found a new home yet, let alone figured out what pieces of him were worth keeping.

Hadn't he been thinking about something much simpler a moment ago? Oh right- the clutter. Hilda's old nisse could have stood to return some things of her own. Or at least kept her nest a little cleaner. A nisse room was still part of a home, after all. And dust bunnies could hop dimensions much more easily than one would think.

He climbed down from the armchair, but hesitated. The house spirit that owned this nest would surely be furious if she found him rearranging things. Then again… If the other nisse did make it back, she would probably be angry enough to find him in her territory no matter what he was doing. He might as well make his stay here a more pleasant one. Not to mention, giving this place a deep clean would be something of a start on apologizing for his first visit.

The house spirit pushed his reservations aside and got to work. He began sorting junk, folding clothes and blankets, and dusting (Though he couldn't find a feather duster anywhere, so he had to make do with the end of his tail). He moved outward from the armchair, quickly realizing that there was too much area to cover in one afternoon- This was something it might take him the rest of his time here to finish. But somehow that was okay. Cleaning wasn't something he liked, per-say, but he liked things to be clean. And after the time he had been having lately, the procession of simple tasks felt productive and good. He finally had some control again, and he was going to use it to help the people that had helped him. Someone who returned the kindness invested in them… That was a start on who he wanted to be.

In a few hours, Tontu's organization had reached the closest fold of the irregular, pink wall. The nisse turned and surveyed his work. The floor was finally visible in the center of the room now, and he had a pile of useful belongings that he was sure Hilda and her mother would be happy to have returned. He picked up a stray kettle and few books marked 'Property of Trolberg Library' and placed them beside it.

Next order of business: The newly-revealed floor desperately needed vacuuming. And after that, the armchair had a smell to it, and several stains he was keen to get rid of. Especially if he was going to be sleeping in it for a few days.

Tontu glanced at some of the remaining piles of junk, but he already knew that Hilda's old nisse hadn't bothered to collect many cleaning supplies. His first inclination was to go looking for them on his own- He had already poked his head into the top of a closet before the thought occurred to him that this still wasn't his house. Even if he _had_ elected to ignore what the house's nisse might think, he… Probably shouldn't be borrowing things from its humans without asking first.

The house spirit moved to the wall of the nisse room, peeking through the entrances to find out if Hilda's mother was still home. He eventually spotted her at the drawing table in the living room. She was working on an intricate floral design that looked like it was meant to be a border for a larger image. After a few moments she leaned back in her chair, regarded the drawing, then sighed. She pushed the piece aside and turned to the cabinet next to her for a new sheet of paper.

Tontu turned away from the exit to steel himself up. This went against all of his instincts. He had spent his whole life trying to be invisible, doing everything in his power not to be noticed- Especially by the humans that had the power to banish him. But here he was about to jump out into the open and ask one of them for something to borrow. Absolute insanity. Maybe it wasn't too late to go back to quietly taking things and putting them back before they were missed?

No, no. He owed this and much more to his hosts, even if it wasn't the way he was used to doing things. This wasn't, after all, the house he was used to living in. Hilda's mother was… Different from Deborah. It was clear she didn't like him much, but despite that she had decided to give him a chance. Sure, Hilda's begging had certainly helped, but in the end the decision to let him stay had been her mother's. She was the one with the power to banish him, after all.

A sudden thought sent Tontu scrambling back down into the nest and grabbing a few of the items from the top of the 'things to be returned' pile. The best place to start, maybe, was to show that the new Tontu meant to return as much as he borrowed.

* * *

"Uhh… Ms. Hilda's mom?"

Johanna startled. She looked up from her new sketch to see a shaggy head poking out from the bottom drawer of the cabinet beside her. It was the sort of drawer that was out of convenient reach from the desk, and therefore not often used. In fact, it was where she threw old design drafts and forgot about them. Twig jumped up from where he had been lying near the other side of her chair, letting out a small growl.

"Y-you can call me Johanna," she responded, putting a hand down to the deerfox to soothe him. The house spirit's appearance was slightly unsettling, as she knew for a fact there was not enough room in there for the rest of the nisse's body. Whatever magic circumvented this spatial issue had a faint, pink glow to it.

The nisse didn't move, and with his hidden expression she was having a hard time reading him. Was he noting her name? Angry at being corrected? Uncomfortable sitting in that drawer? She cleared her throat. "Do you need something?"

"I… Uh, just wanted to ask if you had a vacuum cleaner. There's- um, this room I'm trying to clean. Something to get stains out of furniture would be helpful too, i-if you wouldn't mind. I'll return it all when I'm done a-and I thought I'd give you these back to prove it." There was a slight gleam, and few jackets hit the floor. Another, and three books followed.

Johanna got out of her chair and knelt down, scrutinizing up the small pile. Twig was right behind her, sniffing and pushing his nose into the clothing. The nisse shrunk back a little.

Johanna's immediate thought was that he had taken so much already, until she took a look at one of the books: "Calling on Dragons". She remembered giving Hilda the replacement fee (and a small scolding) for it quite a while ago. It had surely been lost long before Tontu had entered the equation.

"Where did you get these?" Johanna asked, her tone more puzzled than accusatory. Twig sat back on his haunches and sneezed. Apparently, he hadn't found anything wrong with the old jackets beyond a layer of dust two seasons thick.

"In your house's nisse room," Tontu explained, matter-of-factly. "It..." he trailed off. Under the gaze of the home's owner, what little nerve Tontu had collected while cleaning was starting to leave him, so he decided against the full explanation.

"The short of it is that there's a part of your home only a nisse can access. Y-your previous nisse must have taken them there. Or neglected to return them- Sometimes forgotten things can fall into Nowhere Space by themselves. L-like the armchair I'm trying to clean, actually."

"Well, then... Thank you for returning these, I suppose," Johanna said. She decided not to let on that it was much too late for the books.

As for the items Tontu had requested in return... She was hesitant to hand things over to a nisse, but she had promised Hilda she'd give him a chance. She looked to Twig, and he wagged his tail lightly. Besides, what (other than the things being borrowed) was there to lose at this point?

* * *

After lending Tontu the vacuum and some other cleaning supplies, Johanna took a break to walk Twig, then moved to the kitchen table to finish out some of the insurance forms she and Alfur hadn't been able to get to after last night's distractions.

She was feeling a little bad for how stiff her interactions with Tontu had been earlier- So much for Hilda's hopes that she and Tontu might become friends. The more she thought about it, the more she realized that the nisse's request seemed quite an odd way to go about anything dishonest. There were more valuable things to take than a vacuum cleaner, and certainly more secretive ways to take them. Though, if Tontu did hide for the rest of the day after that brief interaction, it wouldn't be entirely her fault that things hadn't gone better… Would it?

Johanna startled when a small hand popped out from under the table and set a box of spray bottles and soap across from her. It vanished just as suddenly as it had appeared. Then- two hands came back. There was a purple glow as they pushed the vacuum cleaner out of nowhere and leaned it against the side of the table.

She overcame her surprise just quickly enough to say "Wait," before the arms vanished again. She wasn't even sure if the nisse could hear her, but sure enough one hand paused, hovering between the vacuum and the underside of the table.

"Do you… Maybe want to come out here for a bit? I'm sure you like being in your secret room and all, but with Hilda gone and Twig down for a nap and Alfur busy finishing his report… I could use the company," Johanna admitted.

The hand was still for a long moment before a rather nervous-looking nisse emerged behind it. He climbed up into the farthest chair, though he had to stand on it to put his nose above the edge of the table.

He didn't say anything. What was there to say? In fact, now that Johanna could see more of him, she noticed that there were subtleties the way he held himself that betrayed emotion. When he was unworried, his shoulders were relaxed, and his tail hung loosely. He moved fluidly when he walked. Now, he was stiff and his tail flicked back and forth. His shoulders hunched into the fluff on the bottom of his head.

"Would you like something to sit on?" Johanna asked, though she knew the height of the table probably wasn't to blame for most of the discomfort between them. Still, it was a problem it couldn't hurt to fix. She cast a glance around the apartment- it wasn't as if Hilda were young enough to need a booster-seat anymore. "Maybe a few books would help?"

"Oh- uh, no I'm fine," Tontu lied.

"Here, they're just on the shelf taking up space," Johanna insisted, her disbelief for the nisse's own good this time. She got up and helped the nisse get situated before offering him some tea.

"I'm… More of a cocoa guy myself," Tontu replied, politely trying to decline the offer without really declining it.

"We have cocoa too," Johanna replied, with a smile that said 'checkmate' to her guest's refusal of any hospitality. Tontu sheepishly relented and She made a mug of cocoa for both of them, despite the warm summer afternoon.

Unfortunately, but maybe predictably, neither of them made much progress on the out-of-season drinks. And they made even less progress in conversation. Johanna was a distracted 'halfway' down a page she had already read thrice, and she was half-heartedly cross-referencing documents from a few other folders that surrounded her. She kept glancing up at the nisse through her eyebrows, hoping he might bring up something, anything they could talk about. Unfortunately, his poker face was uncannily good aside from those stiff shoulders. She forced her own shoulders to relax, realizing she had been mirroring the position.

Finally, Tontu took a deep breath and cut straight to the chase. "You don't like nisse much, do you?"

Johanna's eyes widened and she dropped the folder in her hands. "No, no- I mean," she stumbled, reaching down for it. Tontu's nose followed her motion.

"It's ok. Most people don't," Tontu continued, looking at her under the table as she scooped the few papers that had fallen out back into the stack. "Nisse don't even like other nisse. Some are different, but for the most part they're not to be trusted. Especially the ones you see out of their homes." The nisse paused, "Oh- uh- except for me, of course," he added. "I… Guess."

"You guess?" Johanna asked, looking up and raising an eyebrow.

Tontu shrunk back, "I mean- I was framed and I think we've proven that! And I- I'm certainly trying my best!" He looked down and began to fidget, "Even if… It feels like I can't ever do enough to ever repay you or Hilda... O-or like I made you fight because I was still here yesterday, or-"

Johanna stopped him, "That wasn't entirely your fault," she admitted. She took a deep breath and continued, "I was unfair to you when we first met. I've had some bad experiences with nisse in the past, and I didn't want to give you a chance because of them. I'm truly sorry for how I've treated you."

Tontu was taken aback. He had never been sincerely apologized to before. He wasn't sure he had considered it a possibility. "Uh… Thanks," He finally responded, "I-I'm sorry for causing the kitchen to get wrecked when I first came here."

There was another long silence, but one that wasn't nearly as tense as the first.

Finally, Tontu's curiosity got the better of him. He looked back up, and asked, "W-what happened with the other nisse you knew? It wasn't the one that was here before, was it?"

Johanna sighed, "No, no. This happened a long time ago, when I was a girl. I was a lot like Hilda back then. I was curious, and I loved helping people." She smiled a little, but it waned as she continued, "So naturally, when my parents caught a nisse in our house and sent her out for stealing, I didn't feel right letting things go. I… Felt sorry for her. I found her again in the garden and snuck her biscuits and sweets after dinner. Her name was also Tontu, if you can believe it." She shook her head at the coincidence.

"I can, actually, we all go by that name," Tontu explained. Johanna frowned but he waved his hand dismissively. "It's confusing, I know," he sighed, "Other nisse should get their own name. Sorry, continue."

Johanna shrugged and decided not to comment. "Well… Anyways, my father noticed how strangely I had been acting and followed me into the garden." Her expression darkened, "He saw our Tontu and began to yell at her. I tried to tell him that she promised she hadn't been stealing but- As soon as I opened my mouth, she ripped the locket from my chest and ran."

She put her chin in her hand, "It was gold and shaped like a heart… I always figured it might have been valuable, but to me it was just… Special. I must have swapped the picture in it every other day. To that nisse… I don't know. It must have been the last thing she could swipe when it was clear I wouldn't be bringing her sweets anymore. When I first saw how Hilda looked at you on that street corner, I suppose I was afraid the same thing might happen- Without knowing you, of course. I tried to warn her but," she smirked, "you try telling Hilda not to do what she decides is right."

"Believe me- I have," Tontu admitted. "And… Honestly, back then, I probably wasn't the best nisse to talk to. But Hilda seems to have a way of finding the best in people- Even before they can see it in themselves." He chuckled, "She's good at finding trouble, but… I think she's better at making friends that can get her out of it."

Johanna's expression became serious again. Tontu froze, fearing he had said something wrong. And just when they had started to get along, too!

"Tontu, be honest with me. Do you keep Hilda safe when you're with her?"

"Well- I, um, I try my best to," he stammered, "I-I can drag her into Nowhere Space if we get into too much trouble. Usually things can't follow, but of course other nisse and that barghest would be the exceptions."

Johanna stared over his head and out the window. "I've been looking at the picture in the newspaper from last night. Hilda would have gotten hurt by that thing if you hadn't been there to pull her away. And-" Johanna raised an eyebrow and looked pointedly at Tontu's shredded sleeve with bandages showing clearly underneath. He moved his other arm to cover it, but they both knew it was much too late for that.

"I'm not going to ask what happened yesterday that got you hurt and not her- but maybe…" She hesitated, looking for the right words, "Like I said, I judged you too quickly. You seem to care a lot about Hilda, and Hilda cares a lot about you. Just promise me you'll keep her out of trouble these next few days. We need some time to breathe after everything that's happened."

"I- I promise I will," Tontu said, removing his hand from his sleeve slowly. He sat up a little straighter. "You have my word as a temporary house spirit." He paused, then added wryly, "As good as that really is."

Johanna gave him a small smile back, "I'm sure it will do," she told him, "I really appreciate the help you've been already." A small part of her wondered if she should ask him to stay now, but she decided against saying it out loud. It was a big decision, and she couldn't let him or Hilda in on it before she was absolutely sure. Hilda and Tontu were as thick as thieves, after all. And Alfur- without some kind of elven 'non-disclosure' agreement that would take hours to draw up- was liable to let these kinds of things slip. She just needed to mull it over by herself for a little while longer. She looked absently back down at the paper in front of her while she thought.

The nisse cleared his throat and tried a new topic to revitalize the quickly fading conversation. "Y-you, um, haven't seemed very happy with whatever you've been reading there. Is everything alright?"

Johanna blinked a few times- Oh right, the insurance form she was supposed to be looking over. "We don't have the money for car payments _and_ rent," she admitted, "If we can't get the new car at least partially covered, we're probably going to lose the apartment. Who knows where we'd go then? We might even have to move to Tonfuten. I can't imagine how much of a blow to Hilda losing her house again would be. She's just started to like it here."

Tontu only had the vaguest idea of money. It was some nebulous force that dictated human life from afar. Humans left the house to get money (until they retired, at least), and they worried about it when they came back. Deborah had one son that only visited when he wanted to ask for money. That almost always led to an argument and Tontu had never been sure what made the whole ordeal worth it.

"So… If you don't have money, you get banished?" he asked slowly.

Johanna laughed softly, "Actually, yes. It's almost exactly like that."

Tontu stared down into his luke-warm cocoa. He wondered what kind of horrible creature had the power to sweep in and banish a human.

"But don't worry," Johanna assured him quickly. Maybe she shouldn't have vented to him like this. But… He was a pretty good listener. "Alfur helped me figure most of it out. We're just waiting on the police report, and then we can mail it all off. Everything should be fine," She explained with a smile. Though something in her expression made it clear that she was trying not to tack a 'hopefully' onto the end of that statement.

The phone rung, and Tontu jumped. Johanna got up, relieved for the interruption, and grabbed the phone.

"Uh huh… Alright," Johanna responded. Pause, "Yes, everything is great here, Tontu seems to be settling in just fine. He's helping me with the last of the forms while Alfur works." Another pause.

"Yes, as long as you're staying at the Scout Hall. Have Frida or David's mum drive you home, I don't want you walking home alone in the dark." Pause. "Yes. I know, but there are still dangerous things out there. Even if they're not The Black Hound." Shorter pause. "Thank you. And have fun, sweetie! We'll see you when you get home."

Johanna hung up the phone and turned back to her guest, "Hilda said she'll be running late tonight. Now that there's some extra time, I'm… Going to go run some errands I've been meaning to get to. I'll pick up something we can heat up for dinner when Hilda gets home, too."

She paused and looked at the time, "Alfur should be getting done soon, though. If you could keep an eye out for him and tell him what's going on, I'd really appreciate that."

"I can do that," Tontu agreed. He nodded to Johanna as she went to grab her coat, then slipped back into Nowhere Space.

He was straightening up a stack of boxes that had fallen around the edge of the nest when he realized that the person he was supposed to be 'keeping an eye out for' was invisible.


End file.
